UC-NRLF 


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OFFICIAL     REPORT 


PR(  )CKE  DINGS 


niiv- 


Democratic  -:<  Convention, 


I,1)  IX  THE  HALL  OF  THE— 


of 


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13ATON   ROUGE,  LA. 


—  OX- 


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TIIUJSDAY     AM)     FK5i)AY,     AKUST     7     &     8,  1S.K). 


-  -  - -•  -     --..... 


Howard  Memorial  Library 

NEW  ORLEANS,  LA. 


OFFICIAL    REPORT 


—OF  THE— 


PROCEEDINGS 


—OF  THE— 


Democratic  •••  Convention, 


—HELD  IN  THE  HALL  OF  THE- 


Houise    of     Representatives, 


BATON   ROUGE,  LA. 


-ON- 


THURSDAY    AND     FRIDAY,    AUGUST    7    &    8,  1890. 


NEW  ORLEANS : 
1890. 


As" 


THE  CALL 

HEADQUARTERS  ANTI-LOTTERY  LEAGUE  OF  LOUISIANA. 

No.  10  CARONDELET  STREET, 

NEW  ORLEANS,  July  18,  1890. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Anti-Lottery  League  of  Louisiana,  the 
following  resolution  was  unanimously  adopted  : 

Whereas,  at  a  meeting  of  the  Anti-Lottery  League  held  at 
Shreveport,  at  which  meeting  there  were  present  delegates  from 
various  leagues  in  North  Louisiana,  it  was  resolved  that 'it  was 
expedient  and  necessary  to  call  a  State  Convention  of  the  Demo- 
cratic opponents  of  rechartering,  or  chartering,  a  lottery  in  this 
State  ;  and 

Whereas,  This  League   concurring  in  the  wisdom  of  calling  a 

State  Convention  of  the  Democrats  opposed  to  rechartering,  or 
chartering,  a  lottery,  has  consulted  with  a  Committee  appointed 
by  the  Shreveport  League,  and  the  said  Committee  and  the 
President  of  this  League  have  fixed  upon  Baton  Rouge  as  a 
proper  place  for  holding  said  Convention,  and  Thursday,  August 
7,  1890,  as  the  day  on  which  said' Convention  should  assemble; 
Therefore,  be  it  Resolved,  That  the  President  of  this  League 
in  conformitv  with  the  understanding  between  the  Committee 
appointed  by  the  Caddo  League,  as  aforesaid,  be  requested  to 
publish  a  call  for  a  State  Convention  of  Democrats  opposed  to" 
rechartering,  or  chartering,  a  lottery,  to  be  held  at  Baton  Rouge 
on  Thursday,  August  7,  1890.  That  the  various  Parishes  in 
which  there  are  Anti-Lottery  Leagues,  be  requested  to  send 
delegates  to  said  Convention,  and  that  in  Parishes  where  there 
are  no  Anti  Lottery  Leagues,  the  Democratic  opponents  to  re- 
chartering  the  Louisiana  Lottery,  or  chartering  any  lottery,  be 
requested  to  send  delegates  to  said  Convention,  to  be  selected  by 
such  means  as  they  may  deem  best.  , 

In  pursuance  ot  said  resolution  a  convention  of  the  Democratic 
opponents  to  rechartering  the  Louisiana  Lottery,  or  chartering 
•:ny  other  Lottery,  is  convo.ked  to  meet  at  the  City  of  Baton 
Rouge  on  Thursday,  Agust  7,  1890,  at  12  m. 

\V.   G.    VINCENT,  President. 


M154355 


PRELUDE. 

The  Orleans  delegation  assembled  at  headquarters,  10  Caron- 
delet  Street,  on  the  morning  of  Thursday,  August  yth,  and  re- 
ceived Hon.  Murphy  J.  Foster,  who  had  been  invited  to  go  to 
Baton  Rouge  as  their  guest.  At  8:45  they  formed  in  line,  160 
strong,  headed  by  a  brass  band,  accompanied  by  the  delegations 
from  south-west  Louisiana,  and  escorted  by  many  members  of 
the  League,  and  marched  by  way  of  Camp  and  Poydras  streets 
to  the  depot.  At  9:15  the  special  train  engaged  for  the  occasion 
rolled  out  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  Railroad  depot,  amid  great 
cheering. 

The  arrival  of  the  train  at  Baton  Rouge  was  welcomed  with 
salvoes  of  artillery.  The  Baton  Rouge  Anti-Lottery  League, 
with  their  local  band,  was  at  the  depot  to  receive  them.  Forming 
in  line,  the  entire  body  moved  up  the  Boulevard  and  filed  into  the 
hall  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 


THE  OPENING. 

The  Anti-Lottery  Convention  was  called  to  order  at  ten  min- 
uets to  i  o'clock,  p.  m.  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  the  hall 
being  filled  to  its  utmost  capacity,  with  many  delegates  unable  to 
get  within  the  railing. 

After  music  by  the  band,  Colonel  W.  G.  Vincent,  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Anti-Lottery  League,  -iscended  the  stand  and  said  : 

UI  have  the  honor,  gentlemen,  of  calling  the  Anti-Lottery 
Democratic  Convention  of  the  State  of  Louisiana  to  order."  Mr. 
Vincent  then  called 

HON.    T.    S.    FONTENOT 

of  St.  Landry,  to  the  chair  as  temporary  chairman. 

Mr.  Fontenot  took  the  chair,  amidst  great  applause,  and  said  : 
"  Fellow  Citizens  of  the  State  of  Louisiana  : 

"I  was  very  much  surprised  a  moment  ago  when  I  was  called 
aside  and  informed  that  I  was  to  be  selected  as  temporary  chairman. 
I  am  not  prepared  to  address  you;  I  am  not  an  orator,  as  every- 
body who  has  served  with  me  in  the  Senate  heretofore  knows, 


and  I  will  not  attempt  right  now  to  give  you  a  speech  on  the 
subject  that  has  brought  us  all  together  here  to-day,  and  I  ask 
yonr  indulgence,  because  I  have  not  had  much  experience  as  a 
chairman,  but  I  hope  that  we  will  get  along  smoothly.  I  thank 
you  very  much,  gentlemen,  and  I  feel  very  much  honored  by  the 
position." 

It  was  then  moved  that  five  secretaries  be  elected,  which 
motion  was  carried,  and  the  following  named  gentlemen  were 
nominated  and  elected  by  acclamation  :  Geo.  W.  Young,  of 
Orleans;  C.  V.  Porter,  of  Natchitoches;  Henry  B.  McMurray,  of 
Orleans;  V.  Grosjean,  of  Caddo;  and  J.  D.  Wall,  of  Feliciana. 

Mr.  John  Dymond,  of  Plaquemines,  moved  that  the  Chair  ap- 
point a  committee  of  six  persons,  one  from  each  congressional 
district, 

ON   PERMANENT  ORGANIZATION. 

The  motion  was  carried.  The  chair  appointed  the  following  : 
First  Congressional  District,  Frank  Marquez  ;  Second  District, 
J.  C.  Wickliffe  ;  Third  District,  R.  S.  Perry  ;  Fourth  District, 
G.  W.  Bolton  ;  Fifth  District,  J.  M.  Kennedy  ;  Sixth  District,  J. 
J.  Thompson. 

Mr.  Dymond  moved  that  the  Chair  'appoint  a  committee  on 
credentials,  to  be  composed  of  two  members  from  each  Con- 
gressional District,  and  five  from  the  StPte  at  large.  Carried. 
The  Chair  appointed  : 

At  Large— W.  G.  Vincent,  W.  F.  Theobalds,  E.  G.  Hunter, 
J.  M.  Rollings  worth  and  J.  W.  McFarland.  First  Congress- 
ional District,  H.  McManus,  F.  J.  Dreyfus  ;  Second  District, 
James  C.  Moise,  Euclid  Borland  ;  Third  District,  N.  H.  Pujo, 
Richard  McCall  ;  Fourth  District,  R.  Prosper  -Landry,  G.  L.  P 
Wren  ;  Fifth  District,  A.  C.  Calhoun,  C.  Newton  ;  Sixth  Dis- 
trict, E.  J.  Joftrion,  Henry  Newsom. 

Senator-elect  E.  D.  White  said  that  the  hall  was  not  large 
enough  to  accommodate  the  delegates  to  this  Convention,  and 
that  he  saw  before  him  a  large  bodv  of  gentlemen  who  had  no 
seats.  He  therefore  suggested,  before  adjournment,  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  committee  of  four  to  endeavor  either  to  make  arrange- 
ments in  this  hall  for  seating  all  the  delegates,  or  for  procuring 
some  other  place  of  meeting,  which  can  be  announced  before 


the  Convention  meets  again,  so  as  to  provide  sitting  room  for 
every  gentleman  who  is  a  delegate  to  this  Convention. 

The  motion  was  adopted. 

The  Chair  appointed  the  following  gentlemen  as  the  com- 
mittee : 

Messrs.  D.  \V.  Pipes,  H.  N.  Sherburne,  S.  Me  C.  Lawrason  and 
John  Kleinpeter,  of  Baton  Rouge. 

By  Mr.  J.  Massie  Martin,  of  Lafayette — I  move  that,  in  order 
to  facilitate  the  committee  on  credentials,  each  delegation  be  re- 
quested to  select  a  chairman,  who  should  hand  the  credentials  of 
his  delegation  to  the  secretary  of  the  Convention  for  the  use  of 
the  committee  on  credentials,  either  prior  to,  or  immediately  after 
the  adjournment-  of  the  Convention. 

Mr.  R.  H.  Browne,  Orleans — I  would  say  that  so  far  as  the 
Orleans  delegation  is  concerned  and  s.o  far  as  I  am  concerned  and 
the  gentlemen  who  sit  beside  me,  we  have  no  credentials  what- 
ever, except  the  appointments  which  were  made  by  the  League, 
and  we  cannot  hand  in  credentials  to  anybody. 

Mr.  John  C.  Wickliffe,  of  Orleans — Mr.  George  W.  Young, 
as  Secretary  of  the  Anti-Lottery  League  of  New  Orleans,  has  a 
complete  list  of  the  delegates  from  the  parish  of  Orleans.  The 
city  delegation  need  not  trouble  themselves  about  that  at  all. 

On  motion,  the  Convention,  at  i:io  p.  m.,  took  a  recess  till  4 
o'clock  this  evening. 


EVENING  SESSION. 

The  Convention  reassembled  at  4:10  p.  m.,  Mr.  Fontenot, 
temporary  president,  in  the  chair. 

Mr.  H.  N.  Sherburne,  of  East  Baton  Rouge,  on  behalf  of  the 
committee  on  hall,  reported  that  the  hall  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives was  the  best  hall  that  could  be  secured,  and  recom- 
mended that  the  parishes  be  called  alphabetically,  and,  as  called, 
that  the  delegation  from  each  parish  be  seated  in  regular  order. 

It  was  moved  that  the  report  of  the  committee  be  adopted. 
An  amendment  was  made  that  the  report  of  the  committee  on 
arrangements,  so  far  as  this  hall  is  concerned,  be  adopted.  The 
motion  as  amended  was  adopted. 


Hen.  G.  W.  Bolton,  of  Rapides,  stated  that  the  Committee  on 
Credentials  asked  thirty  minutes  longer  to  co  nplete  their  report. 

On  motion,  the  time  asked  for  was  granted. 

The  Chair — The  next  question  before  the  Convention  is  the 
calling  of  the  parishes  alphabetically  and  the  seating  ol  the 
delegates. 

It  was  moved  that  the  motion  to  seat  delegates  alphabetically 
be  laid  on  the  table. 

The  motion  was  put  and  a  division  called  for. 

The  Chair — All  those  in  favor  of  tabling  the  motion  will  please 
rise. 

The  secretary  reported  that  it  was  impossible  to  count  the  vote. 

Mr.  Ambrose  Smith,  Orleans,  made  the  point  that,  until  the 
Committee  on  Credentials  reported,  and  we  know  who  is  en- 
titled to  cast  a  vote  upon  this  question,  no  vote  can  be  taken. 

The  Chair  ruled  that  the  point  of  order  was  well  taken. 

It  was  moved  and  seconded  that  the  Convention  adjourn  until 
the  Committee  on  Credentials  reported. 

It  was  moved  as  a  substitute  that  the  delegates  remain  seated 
until  the  committee  reported. 

Mr.  H.  N.  Sherburne  said  :  "  I  have  been  in  conference  with 
the  Committee  on  Credentials  with  regard  to  making  their  re- 
port. The  Committee  on  Credentials  informed  me  that  there 
were  two  thousand  names  to  be  called  over  here." 

The  Chair — The  question  recurs  on  the  amendment  that  the 
delegates  retain  their  seats  until  the  Committee  on  Credentials 
reports. 

A  delegate — I  suggest  that  a  sergeant-at-arms  be  appointed, 
with  assistants,  to  see  that  no  one  leaves  the  hall. 

Mr.  S.  H.  Decker,  of  St.  Tammany — Gentlemen,  so  far  as 
we  are  concerned,  we  have  come  here  for  business,  and  if  we 
have  to  stay  for  three  months  fighting  this  lottery  company,  we 
propose  to  stay. 

The  Chair  here  announced  that  the  chairman  of  the  Commit- 
tee on  Credentials  was  ready  to  make  a  partial  report,  and  that 
the  balance  of  the  report  would  be  handed  in  as  fast  as  the  work 
could  be  done. 

The  committee  then  presented  a  partial  report  of  the  delegates 
from  fifteen  parishes. 

The  Chair  instructed  the  Secretary  to  read  the  names. 


8 

Judge  Fiank  McGloin,  of  Orleans,  moved  that  the  reading 
of  the  names  be  dispensed  with.  Carried. 

Judge  McGloin  suggested  that  the  roll  of  parishes  be  called, 
and  that  the  Secretary  give 

THE    NUMBER    OF    EACH     DELEGATION. 

The  roll  was  called  and  a  number  of  corrections  made.  The 
list  as  corrected  is  as  follows  : 

Acadia  9,  Ascension  58,  Assumption  36,  Avoyelles  25,  Bien- 
ville  6,  Bossier  4,  Caddo  26,  Calcasieu  13,  Cameron  i,  Catahoula 
i,  Claiborne  12,  De  Soto  2,  East  Baton  Rouge  54,  East  Carroll 
7,  East  Feliciana  54,  Franklin  2,  Grant  21,  Iberia  27,  Jberville  16, 
Jackson  10,  Lafayette  22,  Lafourche  20,  Lincoln  12,  Livingston 
15,  Madison  16,  Morehouse  22,  Natchitoches  34,  Orleans 
197,  Ouachita  13,  Plaquemines  6.  Pointe  Coupee  58,  Rapides  26, 
Red  River  5,  Richland  4,  Sabine  27,  St.  Bernard  7,  St.  Helena 
7,  St.  James  38,  St.  John  the  Baptist  3,  St.  Landry  15,  St.  Mary 
26,  St.  Tammany  15,  Tangipahoa  13,  Terrebonne  i,  Union  n, 
Vermilion  4,  Vernon  2,  Washington  5,  Webster  3,  West  Carroll 
3,  West  Baton  Rouge  15,  West  Feliciana,  1 6  Winn  6. 

Mr.  T.  H.  Lewis,  of  St.  Landry — I  would  like  to  inquire 
whether  there  is  any  parish  not  represented  here. 

The  Chair — There  is  the  parish  of  Caldwell  and  one  or  two 
other  parishes  that  have  failed  to  send  in  their  reports. 

A  delegate  moved  the  adoption  of  the  report. 

The  report  was  adopted. 

The  Chair  then  announced  that  the  roll  contained  the  names  of 
959  delegates,  and  that  53  parishes  were  represented. 

Hon.  Frank  Marquez.  of  Orleans,  on  behalf  of  the 

COMMITTEE  ON   PERMANENT  ORGANIZATION, 

submitted   the   following  report,  which  was  read  by  Hon.  G.  W. 

Bolton  of  Rapides. 

To  the  Hon.  T.  S.  Fontenot,  Temporary  Chairman    of  the  Anti 

Lottery  Democratic    Convention  : 

Your  committee  on  permanent  organization  respectfully  sub- 
mits the  following  report : 

We  recommend  for  Permanent  President  of  the  Convention 
T.  F.  Bell,  of  Caddo,  and  for  vice  presidents  thirteen  from  the 
State  at  large  as  follows  : 

F.  J.  Dreyfus,  Hugh  McManus,  E.  K.  Skinner,  Michael  Foley, 


M.  J.  Foster,  J.  C.  Leblew,  F.'Seip,  R.  H.  Curry,  J.  M.  Tilley, 
J.  A.  Manning,  A,  L.  Stork,  H.  C.  Newsom,  J.  J.  Thompson. 

Also  one  vice  president  for  each  parish  and  representative 
district  of  Orleans  represented  in  this  Convention,  to  be  selected 
by  the  delegates  from  said  parishes  and  representative  districts. 

The  temporary  secretaries  to  be  permanent  secretaries  of  the 
Convention. 

Sergeants-at-arms,  Robert  Sanchez,  C.  C.  Cornelius. 

We  also  recommend  that  a  committee  of  fifteen  on  resolutions 
and  address  to  the  people  of  this  State  be  appointed  by  the  Presi- 
dent of  this  Convention. 

We  also  recommend  the  appointment  of  a  committee  of  eight- 
een by  the  President  of  this  Convention,  whose  duty  it  shall  be 
to  prepare  an  address  to  the  people  of  the  United  States  and  to 
memorialize  the  President  and  Congress  to  enact  such  legislation 
as  will  forever  rid  our  State  of  this  monster  of  all  iniquity. 

We  further  recommend  that  the  President  of  this  Convention 
be  authorized  to  appoint  an  executive  committee  to  conduct  the 
campaign  against  the  rechartering  of  the  Louisiana  State  Lottery 
or  the  establishment  of  any  lottery  whatever  in  our  State,  said 
committee  to  consist  of  twenty-nine  members,  ten  of  whom 
shall  constitute  a  quorum,  with  power  to  appoint  sub-committees 
and  auxiliary  committees,  as  they  deem  proper,  in  the  various 
parishes  of  the  State.  Respectfully  submitted, 

F.  MARQUEZ,  Chairman. 
J.  M.  KENNEDY, 

J.  J.  THOMPSON, 
R.  S.  PERRY, 

G.  W.  BOLTOX, 
JNO.  C.  WICKLIFFE. 

The  report  of  the  committee  was  adopted  by  a  unanimous 
rising  vote. 

Mr.  Boltoti  then  moved  that  a  committee  of  three  be  appointed 
to  conduct  the 

HON.   T.    F.    BELL, 

of  Caddo,  to  the  chair  of  the  Convention. 

The  motion  was  adopted. 

The  Chair  appointed  W.  G.  Vincent,  T.  S.  Adams  and  G.  W- 
Bolton. 

THE   HON.     T.     F.     BELL 

having  been  conducted  to  the  chair,  the  temporary  chairman 
said  :  "Gentlemen,  it  is  now  my  pleasure  to  introduce  to  you  the 
Hon.  T.  F.  Bell,  of  the  parish  of  Caddo,  whom  you  have  selected 
as  permanent  chairman  of  this  Convention." 


io  • 

Mr.  Bell  was  greeted  with  thunders  of  applause.  He  addressed 
the  Convention  as  follows  : 

Gentlemen  of  the  Convention — I  do  not  dissemble  when  I  tell  vou  that  if 
I  had  been  consulted  that  I  would  much  rather  have  preferred  that  vou 
should  have  called  upon  some  person  else  to  preside  over  the  deliberations 
of  this  convention  ;  but  I  have  come  here  not  for  the  purpose  of  seeking 
position  or  of  shirking  any  duty,  and  I  would  certainly  be  insensible  to  the 
good  esteem  of  my  fellow-citizens  if  I  did  not  appreciate,  and  aporeciate 
very  highly  too,  this  token  of  your  esteem  and  your  confidence,  and  I  assure 
you  that  it  is  in  no  spirit  of  mere  perfunctory  courtesy  that  I  tell  you  that  I 
feel  that  you  have  conferred  upon  rne  to-day  the  proudest  and  the  highest 
honor  of  my  life.  [Applause.] 

I  have  had  the  honor  of  participating  in  many  political  conventions  when 
honest,  earnest  and  patriotic  citizens  of  the  State  wrere  assembled  in  conven- 
tion for  the  purpose  of  selecting  their  rulers,  but  in  this  convention  there  is 
no  self-seeking  ;  there  are  no  offices  to  fill,  no  favors  to  bestow.  This  assem- 
bly represents  the  patriotic  and  virtuous  sons  of  Louisiana  who  have  heard 
the  cry  of  help  from  the  State  and  have  rallied  to  the  rescue.  Hence  I  feel 
proud  that  you  gentlemen  have  selected  me,  almost  a  stranger  to  nearly  all 
of  you,  to  preside  over  your  deliberations. 

I  am  not  going  to  make  a  speech;  but  if  you  will  indulge  me  for  awhile,  I 
deem  it  not  improper  to  submit  this  :  We,  who  have  been  engaged  in  this 
fight  that  now  confronts  us  have  heard  it  whispered  by  the  schemers  who 
would  fasten  this  lottery  stain  upon  the  State  for  the  purpose  of  sowing  the 
seeds  of  dissension  in  our  ranks,  that  this  contest  in  which  we  are  now  so 
earnestly  engaged  is  but  the  slumbering  fires  of  the  old  Nicholls  and 
McEnery  contest  that  so  unhappily  divided  this  State  about  three  years  ago. 

If  you  will  pardon  me,  I  wish  to  say  a  word  or  two,  and  I  feel  as  if  I  have 
a  right  to  speak  somewhat  from  the  book  on  this.  You,  gentlemen,  know 
the  conduct  of  the  parish  of  Caddo  in  that  contest,  and  as  one  of  the  parties 
that  triumphed  in  that  parish  in  that  contest  I  give  you  the  assurance  to-day 
that  you  can  rely  in  this  fight  on  Caddo  doing  her  full  duty. 

That  line  has  faded  out  there  and  I  wish  to  say  this,  that  Governor 
McEnery  had  not  a  prouder  or  a  more  earnest  supporter  in  the  State  of  Lou- 
isiana than  he  whom  you  h*ave  called  upon  to  preside  over  your  convention  to- 
day ;  and  what  I  have  said  I  intend  merely  as  a  preface  to  this,  that  when  I 
read  the  message  of  Governor  Francis  T.  Nicholls  upon  this  lottery  ques- 
tion, from  the  bottom  of  my  heart  I  voted  him  my  sincerest  thanks,  and  I 
say  that  every  man  that  owned  a  home  in  Louisiana,  every  man  that  had  a 
wife  and  child  in  Louisiana,  every  man  who -desires  the  name  of  Louisiana 
to  remain  unstained  cannot  withhold  the  meed  of  his  approbation.  [Ap- 
plause.] c- 

Gentlemen,  that  line  has  faded  out.  We  are  here  now  none  the  less  as 
Democrats,  because^  we  are  anti-lottery  men.  Why,  gentlemen,  I  understand 
that  the  doctrine  handed  down  to  us  from  Thomas  Jefferson  downward  as  the 
fundamental  doctrine  of  the  Democratic  party  is,  "equal  rights  to  all  and 
special  favors  to  none."  I  have  understood  ever  since  I  was  able  to  under- 


II 

stand  .anything  of  tne  political  doctrine  of  the  Democratic  party  in  the 
political  history  of  my  country,  that  the  Democratic  party  has  always  con- 
sidered it  as  the  shibboleth  of  their  faith  to  oppose  monopoly  wherever  U 
raised  its  horny  head. 

More  than  that,  fellow-citizens,  there  is  not  a  single  man  now  within  the 
sound  of  my  voice  that  does  not  know  that  the  record  of  the  Democratic 
party  of  the  State  is  unbroken,  from  1868,  when  this  infernal  lottery  cotn- 
panv  was  chartered  and  foisted  upon  the  State,  down  to  the  present  time,  in 
opposition  to  this  lottery  company.  Time  and  time  again  we  have  put  it  in 
the  platforms  in  our  State  Democratic  conventions.  Time  and  again  your 
Democratic  governors  have  called  the  attention  of  Democratic  assemblies 
to  the  evil,  and  in  1879  the  Democratic  party  expressed  its  voice  by  passing 
an  act  in  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Louisiana  wiping  it  out  of 
existence.  Hence  I  say  we  are  standing  on  Democratic  doctrine  on  Demo- 
cratic ground  here,  when  we,  as  anti-lottery  men,  put  down  this  evil,  and  we 
are  not  to  be  read  out  of  the  party  for  doing  it. 

Now,  fellow-citizens,  I  promised  you  not  to  make  a  speech.  I  am  not 
going  to  do  it,  although^  I  never  was  so  tempted  to  do  it  in  my  life.  [Cries 
of  "Goon."] 

About  forty  days  ago  I  stood  right  in  this  hall,  and  I  tell  you  this  air  don't 
breathe  to-day  like  it  did  then.  I  tell  you,  fellow-citizens,  I  believe  if  we  had 
had  this  crowd  here  then,  that  there  would  not  have  been  any  necessity  for 
its  being  here  to-day.  But,  fellow-citizens,  it  is  good  for  us  to  be  here.  We 
are  going  to  win  this  fight.  We  are  going  to  win  it  because  \ve  are  right. 

Now,  I  wish  to  say  one  word  here,  and  then  I  am  going  to  stop.  [Cries  of 
"Go  on."]  If  ever  a  people  in  this  world  had  a  cause  that  they  could  trust 
to  calm  and  temperate  argument,  we  have  it  now.  [Cries  of  "You  are 
right."]  We  can  stand  upon  that  platform  and  proudly  challenge  our  oppo- 
nents to  meet  us  in  temperate,  dispassionate  discussion,  if  they  will.  Hence 
let  me  urge  upon  my  anti-lottery  friends,  who  will  take  part  in  the  discus- 
sions of  this  question  throughout  the  State  from  now  on,  calmness  and  dis- 
pa^sion.  Let  us  remember  that  we  have  a  cause  that  has  everything  to  win 
by  calm  and  temperate  argument. 

Now,  there  has  been  some  difference  of  opinion  amongst  the  Democrats 
of  this  State.  All  of  them  have  not  thought  on  this  question  as  we  have, 
but,  fellow-citizens  and  gentlemen  of  the  convention,  just  as  sure  as  truth  is 
clothed  with  an  inherent  power  to  crush  the  lie,  just  so  sure  by  argument, 
by  agitation,  calm,  fair  and  dispassionate,  by  earnest  argument  we  can  win 
back  to  our  ranks  every  one  of  our  Democrats,  unless  he  has  had  the  palm 
of  his  hand  anointed  with  the  "lottery  oil  of  gladness. 

Now,  with  all  others,  let  us  argue — we  cun  get  them  -back,  but  I  do  not 
think  that  the  others  will  be  any  good  to  us  if  we  do  get  them  back. 

Now,  gentlemen,  I  promised  that  I  would  not  make  a  speech  and  I  won't 
interrupt  the  proceedings  of  the  convention.  I  now  take  the  chair  and  we 
will  proceed  to  business.  [Prolonged  applause.] 

It  was  moved  as  an  act  of  courtesy  that  Hon.  T.  &.  Adams,  the 


12 

President  of  the  Farmers'  Union,  be  requested  to  take  *  se&t  on 
the  platform  beside  the  president. 

A  motion  was  then  made  and  adopted,  that  the  Convention 
signify  their  approbation  of  the  motion  inviting 

CAPTAIN  T.   S.  ADAMS 

to  a  seat  beside  the  president  by  a  rising  vote. 

The  convention  rose  in  a  body. 

A  motion  having  been  made  that  a  committee  of  three  be 
appointed  to  conduct  Mr.  Adams  to  the  platform,  the  Chair 
appointed  the  following  committee:  G.  W.  Bolton,  J.  Massie 
Martin  and  John  Dymond,  and  the  committee  escorted  the  gen- 
tleman to  the  stand. 

(Cries  of  "Adams!  Adams!  ") 

MR.   ADAMS 

addresed  the  convention  as  follows: 

Mr.  Chaiiman  and  gentlemen  of  this  convention — I  feel  that  it  would  be 
a  matter  of  supererogation  for  me  to  make  any  protracted  remarks  on 
this  auspicious  occasion.  I  feel  very  deeply  Mr.  Chairman  and  gentlemen 
of  the  convention,  the  honor  conferied  upon  me  on  this  especially  auspicious 
occasion. 

Speaking  for  the  order  which  I  have  the  honor  t  represent  I  wish  to  say, 
gentlemen,  that  twelve  months  ago  we  pronounced  our  sentiment  on  this  lot- 
tery question,  and,  sir,  we  have  burned  the  ships  behind  us.  [Applause  ] 

We  are  wedded  to  the  theory  gentlemen,  that  honest  men  must  rule  the 
great  commonwealth  of  the  State  of  Louisiana  [Applause;]  and  no  matter 
what  may  be  the  billingsgate  denounced  against  officials  in  this  matter,  it  is 
a  confession  on  the  part  of  these  people  who  have  attempted  to  vilify  the 
characters  of  great  and  good  men,  that  they  have  no  argument  to  present. 

.Mr.  Chairman  and  gentlemen  of  the  Convention,  God  never  intended  that 
a  civilized  community  should  be  controlled  by  anything  like  a  lottery.  [Ap- 
plause.] It  belonged  to  the  dark  ages  of  France  and  other  countries  when 
the  sun  of  the  great  Messiah  had  gone  out  in  darkness.  But  to-day  we,  who 
live  in  this  civilized  community,  feel  the  reflections  that  are  cast  upon  this 
great  commonwealth  that  we  are  pauperized;  to  see  it  published  to  the  world 
that  we  are  not  capable  of  sustaining  our  own  institutions  ;  that  we  must  be 
dependent  upon  some  contingency  other  than  right.  Mr.  Chairman  and 
gentlemen,  if  it  is  evident  that  we,  who  possess  this  soil  and  who  work  it,  are 
not  capable  of  maintaining  a  revenue  sufficient  to  support  our  institutions, 
and  that  we  must  look  to  some  sinister  means  for  securing  a  revenue.  Then 
I  say,  that  this  is  one  of  the  strongest  arguments,  the  grandest  argument,  that 
immigration  must  be  stopped  in  this  direction.  It  goes  out  to  the  world  that 
we  are  pauperized,  mat  we  are  not  able  to  take  care  of  ourselves,  and  hence 


13 

I  feel  that  this  lottery  question  is  one  of  the  most  ruinous  and  vicious  that 
has  ever  been  presented  on  any  civilized  community. 

Gentlemen,  you  can  count  upon  it  that  we  will  hew  square  to  the  line,  no 
matter  where  the  chips  fall.  It  has  been  said  that  we  are  divided  on  this 
question.  I  wish  to  state  here  to-day,  in  the  presence  of  this  intelligent 
audience,  that  there  was  a  resolution  passed  by  our  order  unanimously 
adopting  my  views  against  the  lottery.  [Applause.] 

I  will  say  that  we  will  never  surrender  the  sh;p.  The  Farmers'  Alliance 
will  stand  true  to  the  colors,  and  when  they  go  down  it  will  be  a  dark  night 
of  misfortune  that  befalls  our  country. 

I  thank  you,  gentlemen,  for  your  courtesy.     [Cheers.] 

Cries  of 

"  WHITE  !   WHITE  !" 

Tlie  Chair — Gentlemen  of  the  Convention,  one  moment.  Just 
wait  until  a  little  work  can  be  done. 

Mr.  E.  H.  Farrar,  01  Orleans — I  would  like  to  offer  a  resolu- 
tion pertinent  to  the  placing  of  Mr.  Adams  upon  that  stand  and 
to  the  remarks  which  he  has  just  made. 

The  resolution  was  read  by  Mr.  Farrar,  as  follows  : 

Resolved,  That  this  convention  recognizes  with  gratitude  the  fact  that  the 
FARMERS'  UNION, 

a  body  of  men  comprising  a  large  portion  of  the  bone  and  sinew  of  the  State 
— men  whose  hearts  are  always  for  the  right  and  whose  hands  are  ready  to 
execute  their  sentiments — made  the  initial  step  in  the  war  against  the  lottery 
company,  and  was  the  first  organized  body  of  Louisiana's  brave  sons  to  de- 
nounce the  scheme  of  its  recharter. 

Resolved  further,  That  the  State  Farmers'  Union  is  hereby  requested  to 
co-operate  with  this  body  in  the  campaign  now  on  foot  against  the  Morris 
lottery  proposition,  or  any  other  proposition,  and  to  take  such  steps  as  will 
place  its  executive  committee  in  full  and  free  relations  with  the  executive 
committee  appointed  by  this  convention. 

Resolved  further,  That  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  be  immediately  trans- 
mitted to  the  said  State  Union,  now  in  session  in  the  city  of  Baton  Rouge. 

Mr.  Branch  M.  King,  of  Orleans,  moved  the  adoption  of  the 
resolutions. 

An  amendment  was  offered  to  Mr.  King's  motion,  that  the 
resolutions  be  amended  by  inserting  after  the  words  "  lottery 
proposition,"  the  words  "or  any  other  lottery  proposition.1' 

The  amendment  was  accepted,  and  the  resolutions  as  amended 
were  on  motion  adopted  by  a  unanimous  rising  vote. 

Mr.  Bolton,  of  Rapides — I  now  move  that  the  Chair  proceed 
to  appoint  the  committees  stated  in  the  resolutions  of  the  Co.Yi 


14 

mittee  on  Permanent  Organization  —  the  Committee  on  Resolu- 
tions and  Address  to  the  people  of  the  State,  and  the  Committee 
on  Address  to  the  people  of"  the  United  States. 

The  chair  announced  the  following  as  the 

COMMITTEE    ON     RESOLUTIONS 

and  address  to  the  people  of  the  State  : 

F.  P.  Stubbs,  T.  H.  Lewis,  R.  S.  Perry,  Frank  McGloin, 
E.  X.  Pugh,  J.  A.  Tetts,  John  Dymond,  H.  C.  Calhoun,  C.  Har- 
rison Parker,  J  G.  White,  J.  M.  Kennedy,  C.  V.  Porter, 
James  McConnell,  Dr.  L.  G.  Perkins,  W.  C.  Roberts. 

Mr.  Bolton  moved  that  the  Committee  on  Resolutions,  if  they 
desired,  be  permitted  to  retire,  and  that  all  resolutions  be  submit- 
ted to  that  committee  without  debate.  Carried. 

A.  motion  was  made  that  the  Committee  on  Resolutions  be 
requested  to  report  a  resolution  commendatory  of  President  Har- 
rison and  Postmaster  General  Wanamaker  for  the  position  they 
have  taken  in  regard  to  this  lottery. 

Mr.  E.  H.  Farrar,  of  Orleans,  moved  to  lay  the  motion  on  the 
table,  for  the  reason  that  a  great  many  suggestions  are  going  to 
come  before  the  committee  as  to  the  best  way  of  destroying  the 
lottery  company,  and  that  there  are  other  constitutional  effective 
and  destructive  means  within  the  power  of  the  government  to 
recommend  to  Congress  to  stab  this  monopoly  through  the  heart. 

Mr.  McGloin  moved  to  refer  the  matter  to  the  Committee  on 
Resolutions. 

Judge  Walter  H.  Rogers  made  the  point  of  order  that  the 
Convention  has  already  adopted  a  rule  that  all  resolutions  be 
referred  to  the  Committee  on  Resolutions  without  debate,  and 
therefore  this  matter  should  be  referred  to  that  committee  with- 
out debate. 

The  Chair — The  motion  that  was  adopted  a  while  ago  was  to 
the  effect  that  all  resolutions  would  be  referred  to  the  commit- 
tee that  the  Chair  had  then  appointed,  without  debate,  and  I  rule 
that  the  motion  of  the  gentleman  will  now  be  referred  to  that 
Committee  on  Resolutions  without  debate. 

Mr.  Moon,  of  Orleans,  moved  that  all  the  Representatives  and 


15 

Senators  who  stood  by  the  State  in  the  fight  against  the  lottery 
be  invited  to  take  seats  on  the  platform. 

The  motion  was  unanimously  adopted  by  a  rising  vote. 

The  Chair  here  announced  the  following  Committee  on 

ADDRESS    TO    THE    PEOPLE    OF    THE     UNITED    STATES 

and  Memorializing  Congress:  E.  H.  Farrar,  John  M.  Avery,  O. 
O.  Provosty,  John  A.  Buckner,  H.  R.  Lott,  H.  C.  Miller,  J. 
R.  Land,  C.  Lagarde.  Dr.  E.  DeNux,  J.  G.  Hawkes,  T.  S. 
Adams,  Dr.  M.  L.  Lyons,  S.  McC.  Lawrason,  A.  L.  Ponder, 
O.  P.  Amacker,  Thos.  :  C.  McKowen,  F.  A.  Monroe,  Chas.  Par- 
lange. 

The  Convention  here  took  a  recess  till  9  o'clock  p.  M. 

The  Committees  on -Resolutions  and  Address  to  the  People  of 
the  State  and  on  Address  to  the  people  of  the  United  States  and 
Memorializing  Congress  here  retired  to  deliberate. 

At  this  stage  of  the  meeting  cries  of  WHITE  !  WHITE  ! 
were  heard  from  all  parts  of  the  hall.  United  States  Senator- 
Elect 

E.  D.    WHITE 

spoke  as  follows: 

Mr.  President  and  Fellow-Democrats  of  the  Anti-Lottery  Movement — If 
there  was  doubt  in  the  mind  of  a  man  in  this  State  as  to  what  is  to  be  the 
result  of  this  lottery  struggle,  looking  into  the  faces  of  these  brave  men 
gathered  here  that  doubt,  it  seems  to  me,  would  melt  away  like  snow  under  a 
summer's  sun. 

It  was  remarked  to  me  just  now  by  a  gentleman  who  perhaps  has  had  as 
much  experience  in  public  assemblies  as  any  man  in  this  State,  that  lie  has 
seen  many  conventions  assembled,  he  had  in  fact  witnessed  nearly  all  the 
conventions  of  any  magnitude  from  the  days  of  1868  down  to  the  present 
time,  but  that  it  had  never  been  his  good  fortune  to  see  a  body  of  men  more 
representative  and  bearing  upon  their  countenances  a  grander,  a  more  right- 
eous and  more  determined  purpose  to  act  for  the  good  of  their  State. 

It's  a  consoling  thing,  Mr.  President,  to  see  this  Convention  assemble,  as 
it  has,  on  such  short  notice.  It  shows  that  there's  life  in  the  old  land  yet. 
It  shows  that  the  spirit  which  marshaled  our  brothers  in  '61,  when  the 
appeal  to  arms  rang  out  from  one  end  of  the  State  to  the  other,  yet  lives.  It 
shows  that  the  love  of  country  that  rallied  the  sons  of  this  State,  from  the 
hills  of  North  Louisiana  to  the  prairies  of  the  parish  of  Plaquemines,  when 
they  were  needed  to  overthrow  the  carpet-bag  government,  is  not  dead.  It 
shows  ihat  the  same  grand  purpose  which  caused  our  brothers  to  shed  their 
blood  in  the  streets  of  New  Orleans  on  the  i_}th  of  September  [loud  ap- 


i6 

plause],  that  the  same  spirit,  true  and  everlasting,  beats  in  the  hearts  of  the 
sons  of  Louisiana  to-day  as  it  did  then.  [Great  applause.] 

Mr.  President  and  gentlemen  of  the  Convention,  this  anti-lottery  question 
has  been  so  much  discussed  that  it  seems  superfluous  to  do  s.  /  again.  I  rec- 
ollect a  gentleman  telling  me  that  when  he  was  a  boy  he  was  particularly 
fond  of  horse  racing,  but  that  his  father  was  opposed  to  it.  He  had  a  great 
desire  to  see  a  four-mile  track  and  would  often  lay  awake  at  night  thinking 
what  a  four- mile  track  could  be,  and  how  in  the  world  one  could  see  to  the 
end  of  it,  and  so  one  day  he  stole  from  school  to  see  a  four-mile  race,  and  he 
said:  "  You  can  imagine  my  disgust  when  I  got  there  and  found  that  the 
horses  were  running  the  same  mile  over  four  times."  [Laughter.] 

I  am  very  much  afraid  that  would  be  the  position  in  which  I  should  find 
myself  were  I  to  attempt  to  rediscuss  the  whole  lottery  question.  There  are, 
however,  some  aspects  of  it  which  I  desire  particularly  to  call  to  your  atten- 
tion. The  first  is  the 

DANGER    TO    THE    MATERIAL    PROSPERITY 

and  development  of  the  State  of  Louisiana  to  flow  from  the  continuance  of 
the  lottery  within  its  borders. 

Now  two  and  more  years  ago  we  had  a  contest  in  this  State  for  governer. 
Thanks  be  to  God,  as  just  said  by  our  Chairman,  like  true  Democrats,  when 
the  nominating  convention  adjourned  here,  we  recollected  nothing  of  the 
struggle,  and  now  only  remember  that  when  it  was  all  over,  the  Democratic 
party  united,  hand  in  hand,  to  elect  the  gentleman  whom  that  convention 
nominated.  [Loud  applause.]  I  refer  to  these  matters,  for  we  all  know  how 
in  that  struggle  there  were  many  hands  which  threw  upon  the  political  can- 
vas of  the  State  a  picture  of  prosperity,  development  and  success  unequaled. 
Well,  now,  when  the  lottery  question  arises  the  same  hands  which  drew  that 
picture  then  have  thrown  upon  the  same  canvas  a  picture  of  misery,  which, 
if  it  were  true,  would  fill  us  with  most  dire  forebodings  for  the  future  of  our 
State.  [Applause.] 

Gentlemen,  I  think  the  picture  drawn  then  was  not  wholly  true,  and, 
thanks  be  to  God,  I  believe  the  one  drawn  to-day  to  be  not  wholly  true 
either.  We  are  not  so  prosperous  as  we  ought  to  be,  but  looking  back  at  the 
past  and  looking  forward  to  the  future,  who  is  there  who  knows  this  great 
State,  who  does  not  see  opening  up  before  her  a  great  and  glorious  career 
if  we  do  not  do  anything  to  prevent  the  capital  and  good  people  from 
other  States  from  coming  into  this  and  helping  us  build  it  up.  [Applause.] 

Now  it  will  not  be  gainsaid  it  can  not  be  gainsaid,  that  if  we  permit  the 
renewal  of  the  charter  of  a  lottery  company  we  shall  go  counter  to  the  mora 
sentiment  and  intellectual  convictions  of  the  people  of  the  United  States 
from  Maine  to  California. 

There  can  br  no  doubt  of  this.  Let  us  see  if  there  can  be.  This  lottery 
question  has  fixed  the  attention  of  the  whob  country  and  the  unanimous 
opinion  is  against  it.  Everywhere 

THE    PRESS    HAS    CONDEMNED    IT. 

In  all  places  outside  of  this  State,  wherever  the  voice  of  public  opinion  has 
been  heard,  it  has  spoken  with  one  accord  as  to  the  enormity  of  carrying  on 


a  government  by  .means  of  a  lottery.  Now,  sir,  if  we  do  this  thing,  which 
the  public  opinion  of  the  United  States  so  absolutely  condemns,  how  are  we 
to  expect  capital  and  population  to  come  in  from  other  States  to  aid  us  in  the 
development  of  our  fair  State?  If  we  do  what  is  abhorrent  to  the  moral 
sense  of  the  American  people,  can  we  avoid  their  considering  us  with  abhor- 
rence? 

If  we  recharter  this  lottery  for  twenty -five  years  how  can  we  expect  immi- 
gration? In  what  language  shall  we  couch  the  invitation?  Shall  we  say, 
come  among  us;  we  have  chartered  a  lottery,  we  sustain  the  government  by 
it,  come  bring  your  household  goods,  your  children,  and  rear  them  in  the 
atmosphere  which  we  have  created?  I  say  to  you,  gentlemen  of  this  Con- 
vention, it  seems  to  me  if  we  do  this  every  step  we  take  in  the  direction  of 
doing  it,  will  serve  to  raise  higher  and  higher  the  barriers  shutting  us  off  from 
the  way  of  development  and  prosperity  which  awaits  us.  [Applause.] 

But  there  is 

ANOTHER    BUSINESS    ASPECT 

of  the  question  which  I  wish  briefly  to  refer  to.  Let  me  state  it.  Those 
who  favor  the  lottery  amendment  do  so  because  they  think  the  State  needs 
the  money.  Now  if  we  are  to  consider  the  money,  are  we  not  going  to  ob- 
tain the  best  possible  price?  Will  we  sell  our  birthright  without  first  ascer- 
taining what  it  is  worth?  Are  we  to  be  less  careful  in  selling  that  which  so 
many  claim  to  be  the  fair  name  —  the  future  and  the  freedom  of  the  State  — 
than  we  would  be  in  selling  a  horse,  or  a  cow,  or  a  pig?  I  ask  my  friend 
Captain  Adams  who  sits  on  the  platform  as  the  representative  of  the  farmers 
of  this  State,  if  there  is  a  farmer  who  taking  a  pig  to  market  would  sell  it  for 
twenty-five  cents  without  first  ascertaining  whether  it  was  worth  more? 

[Captain  Adams  —  u  Certainly  not. "] 

Now,  gentlemen,  if  this  be  the  case  what  becomes  of  the  lottery  amend- 
ment? Have  any  steps  been  taken  to  ascertain  how  much  this  franchise 
is  worth.  Was  any  examination  made,  was  any  public  announce- 
ment given,  so  that  all  might  bid  for  it?  Why,  sirs,  as  I  have  just  said,  we 
think  that  the  sale  involves  the  fair  name  of  the  State,  its  future  prosperity, 
its  all.  Will  we  sell  these  priceless  objects  without  taking  the  ordinary 
safeguards?  If  these  things  have  not  been  done,  how  will  one  who  tavors  a 
lottery  franchise,  for  money,  support  this  particular  one,  for  a  fixed  sum 
without  the  knowledge  whether  the  sum  fixed  is  adequate  or  not? 

I  say,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  these  views  seem  to  me  so  conclusive  that,  I 
hope  as  this  campaign  goes  on,  as  from  the  hustings  in  this  State  everywhere 
the  question  is  discussed,  there  will  be  such  a  voice  of  unanimity  coming  up 
in  favor  of  right  as  against  wrong  [applause]  in  favor  of  the  defeat  of  this 
lottery  amendment,  t*iat  by  the  time  '92  comes  'round,  there  will  not  be  a 
real  contest.  [Applause.] 

But,  Mr.  President, 

LOOKING  FORWARD  TO  THE  STRUGGLE, 

supposing  there  is  to  be  a  serious  struggle,  I  have  a  few  words  to  say.  A 
few  words  which  I  think  it  well  to  say,  and  I  am  not  going  to  keep  you  long, 
and  that  is  this:  Seeing  the  determination  written  in  the  faces  of  you  all 


i8 

and  knowing  that  determination  as  it  exists  over  this  State,  I  say  let  us  be 
calm;  let  us  be  just  as  we  discuss  this  question 

There  is  an  issue  in  this  State,  the  most  important  one  in  it,  one  which 
has  saved  our  State  in  the  past  and  which  is  to  be  its  safeguard  in  the  future, 
and  that  is  the  solid,  earnest  and  undivided  union  of  all  the  white  people  of 
this  State  within  the  lines  of  the  Democratic  party.  [Loud  applause.] 

It  can  not  be  gainsaid  by  any  man  that  on  this  lottery  question  in  the  past, 
and  now,  there  has  been  and  is  division  among  the  ranks  of  the  white  voters 
of  tin's  State.  Lured  on  by  the  dazzling  effect  of  the  offer  of  money;  appalled 
by  the  wafers  pouring  in  upon  our  alluvial  lands;  reckoning  not  of  the 
grave  conseqviences  which  were  to  follow  the  granting  of  this  charter,  rea- 
soning from  points  of  expediency  only,  there  is  no  doubt  that  many  good 
and  true  men  in  this  State  espoused  the  lottery  side,  and  there  are  many 
good  and  true  men  who  honestly  espouse  it  to-day.  [Applause.] 

But,  Mr.  President,  this  Convention  is  proof  that  the  light  of  reason  is 
going  out  to  them,  if  we  use  reason  and  not  bitterness  and  recklessness. 

If  we  approach  those  who  differ  with  us  with  the  irresistible  arguments 
against  the  amendment,  doing  nothing  to  harden  and  wound,  the  natural 
force  of  reason  and  association  will  bring  them  all  into  our  ranks,  and  we 
will  thus  not  only  defeat  the  lottery  amendment,  but  we  will  defeat  it  with  a 
triumphant  and  united  Democratic  party.  [Applause.] 

Mr.  President,  I  say  let  us  recollect  the  plain  proverb  "you  catch  more 
flies  with  molasses  than  with  vinegar."  When  we  adjourn  and  go  to  our 
homes,  I  implore  all  to  recollect  this,  that  our  struggle  is  not  only  to  defeat 
the  lottery  amendment,  but  our  struggle  is  also  to  defeat  it,  and,  at  the  same 
time,  create  no  discord,  no  dissension,  no  bitterness  within  the  ranks  of  the 
white  peop-le  of  this  State.  Gentlemen,  if  we  start  out  recognizing  this 
principle,  if  we  continue  the  struggle  bearing  in  mind  the  fact  that  \ve  have 
a  question  to  discuss,  a  question  which  involves  the  weal  or  woe  of  this  great 
commonwealth  for  all  time  to  come,  there  can  be  no  doubtful  result — a  result 
the  more  precious  since  it  will  leave  this  people  united  and  harmonious. 
[Great  applause.]  * 

I  was  in  the  Treasurer's  office  to-day  and  took  up  by  accident  a  book  ; 
turning  over  its  pages  they  were  found  to  contain  a  great  oration,  delivered 
not  long  since  on  a  memorable  occasion.  As  I  glanced  over  its  pages  the 
>Yords  of  the  orator  brought  to  my  mind  the  wonderful  character  he  por- 
trayed. My  thought  was,  would  that 

EVERY    MAN    IN    THIS    STATE    WHO    DOUBTED 

on  this  question  could  decide  it  by  the  lessons  and  example  which  that  life 
teaches.  I  see  now  that  character — how  sublimely  noble,  how  full  of  duty, 
of  love  of  country  ;  calm,  serene,  true,  and  in  all  things  devoted  ;  a  great 
leader  in  battle,  a  pillar  of  fire  to  illumine  the  darkness  and  desolation  of  de- 
feat ;  the  greatest  exponent  of  our  Southern  civilization,  and,  as  I  think,  one 
of  the  noblest  characters  in  the  tide  of  time.  Need  I  mention  the  immortal 
name  of  Robert  E.  Lee  !  [Great  applause.]  Ah  !  if  we  could  raise  his  dust 
from  where  it  is  sleeping,  if  his  majestic  presence  could  stand  here,  if  his 
revered  lineaments  could  look  down  upon  us  all,  would  we  not  with  one 


19 

accord  say  :  You  led  our  sons  in  war,  you  counselled  them  in  defeat,  speak 
to  us  now  !  But  it  cannot  be.  We  cannot  call  him  back  from  immortality 
to  our  mortal  turmoil.  Yet,  though  dead  he  speaketh  by  the  lessons  of  his 
great  life.  Ah  !  reading  that  life  rightly,  is  there  one  of  us  who  cannot  hear 
his  voice  saying  :  I  have  seen  your  dauntless  battalions  pour  out  their  blood 
like  water  for  your  dear  State  and  her  fair  name  ;  their  glory  is  yours  and 
her  heritage  ;  preserve  it  untarnished  and  unsullied  forever.  [Great  ap- 
plause.] 

THE     HON.     MURPHY   J.    FOSTER, 

of  St.  Mary,  was  loudly  called  for, 

Mr.  Foster  spoke  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  of  this  Convention — I  am  feeling  very  badly 
at  present  ;  in  fact,  I  am  suffering  and  am  unable  to  make  you  any  lengthy 
speech,  nor  am  I  prepared  to  make  you  any  set  speech  ;  but  looking  into  the 
faces  of  these  delegates,  and  knowing  the  motive  which  has  prompted  their 
coining  here,  I  should  indeed  be  lost  to  every  sense  of  pride  if  I  did  not 
respond  to  your  very  flattering  call.  [Applause.] 

Gentlemen  of  this  Convention,  it  may  be  that  I  was  in  this  fight  so  long, 
but  somehow  or  other  my  whole  soul  is  wrapped  up  in  this  anti-lottery  cause. 
[Applause.] 

I  see  gathered  here  to-day  the  bone  and  sinew  of  Louisiana.  I  see  the 
manhood  of  my  State  and  the  manhood  of  the  Democratic  party  here. 
[Applause.]  They  have  come  in  the  interest  of  no  man  and  of  no  faction 
They  are  not  here  in  the  interest  of  the  Nicholls  faction  nor  of  the  McEnery 
faction  ;  they  are  here  in  the  interest  of  no  man  nor  set  of  men  ;  but  they 
have  come  here  in  the  interest  of  their  loved  State  and  in  the  interest  of  the 
Democratic  party  of  Louisiana.  [Applause.]  They  are  here  representing 
the  virtue,  the  manhood  and  the  integrity  of  the  white  men  of  Louisiana. 
[Applause.] 

Thev  have  come  in  the  interest  of  no  clique,  but  solely  in  the  interest  of  a 
grand  and  glorious  cause. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Convention,  one  reason  why  I  am  so  earnest  in  my  oppo- 
sition to  this  Morris  proposition  is  this  :  I  may  be  wrong  in  my  view,  but  I 
believe — and  I  measure  my  words — I  believe  that  the  success  of  the  Morris 
proposition  means  the  absorption  of  the  Democratic  party  or  its  disruption 
as  well  as  the  destruction  of  good  and  honest  government.  [Applause.] 

The  end  and 

THE    AIM    OF    ALL    GOVERNMENTS 

is  the  protection  of  the  individual  in  the  enjoyment  of  his  life,  liberty  and 
property,  and  it  is  a  fundamental  principle  in  the  science  of  government  that 
in  order  to  do  this  crime  must  be  checked  and  vice  must  be  suppressed;  and 
when  a  State  or  a  people  enters  into  an  unholy  union  with  one,  or  consorts 
in  an  unnatural  alliance  with  the  other,  I  tell  you,  fellow-citizens,  that  the 
object  and  aim  of  government  is  defeated  and  destroyed,  [Applause.]  and 
whenever  the  Democratic  party  adopts  any  measure  giving  exclusive  privi- 
leges to  a  class,  it  is  no  longer  the  Democratic  party.  You  mav  as  well  say 
that  the  Democratic  party  can  adopt  a  protective  tariff,  as  to  say  that  it  can 


2O 

aid  and  become  the  promoter  of  monopolies,  and  this  is  one  of  the  reasons 
why  I  say  that  if  this  lottery  company  ever  becomes  incorporated  into  the 
fundamental  law  of  the  land  through  the  Democratic  party,  it  means  the 
disruption  of  the  party  or  else  the  absorption  of  the  party.  In  other 
words  it  will  be  the  lottery  party  in  the  guise  of  Democracy. 

Now,  fellow-citizens,  let  us  look  calmly  at  this  proposition.  Let  us  see 
what  it  means.  We  are  a  proud  people.  We  have  a  proud  ancestry.  We 
have  proud  traditions.  We  have  everything  that  should  make  a  State  grand 
and  great.  God  in  His  goodness  has  been  kind  and  generous  to  Louisiana. 
He  has  given  her  a  soil  that  you  need  but  "  tickle  it  with  the  hoe  and  it  will 
smile  with  the  harvest."  He  has  given  her  riches  which  vet  lie  dormant  in 
her  fertile  bosom.  We  have  here  everything  that  should  make  a  proud 
State,  and  we  can  easily,  if  we  are  worthy  of  the  land,  become 

THE    PROUDEST    COMMONWEALTH 

in  the  sisterhood  of  Southern  States.     [Applause.] 

But,  fellow-citizens,  we  can  never  do  it,  we  can  never  march  onward  and 
upward,  we  can  never  enter  the  race  with  our  sister  States  handicapped  with 
this  infernal  lottery.  [Applause.]  We  can  never  enter  this  contest  of  States 
unless  we  do  it  as  a  sovereign  State,  and  this  proposition  means  that  the 
tovereignty  of  the  State  shall  be  sold,  her  political  manhood  shall  be  emas- 
culated, the  integrity  of  our  party  destroyed. 

This  proposition  means  that  we,  the  white  people  of  the  State,  must 
declare  to  the  civilized  and  to  the  Christian  world  that  we  are  dependent 
upon  the  turning  of  the  wheel  for  the  maintenance  of  our  levees,  the  educa- 
tion of  our  children  and  the  support  of  our  charitable  institutions.  These, 
gentlemen  of  the  convention,  are  the  solemn  responsibilities  of  statehood  ; 
these  duties  are  what  a  proud  people  should  glory  in  doing  ;  these  obligations 
and  these  responsibilities  are  what  a  State  should  take  a  pride  in  executing, 
but  we  are  asked  to  publish  to  the  world  that  the  manhood  of  Louisiana  is 
unable,  unwilling  and  incompetent  to  perform  these  sacred  and  these  high 
duties. 

Fellow  citizens,  it  is  written  upon  your  faces  ;  it  is  written  in  the  heart  of 
every  true  Louisianian  that  you  never  will  accept  this  proposition  nor  issue 
this  proclamation.  [Cries  of  No  !  no  !] 

We  cannot  afford  to  do  it,  fellow-citizens.  We  cannot  afford  to  do  it  for 
our  State,  tor  there  are  some  things  which  are  not  for  sale.  There  is  no 
market  value  placed  upon  the 

HONOR   OR  THE  MANHOOD  OF  A  PEOPLE  ; 

it  is  not  quoted  in  the  columns  of  commercial  papers,  and  the  lottery  com- 
pany has  made  a  mistake  when  k  thinks  it  can  buy  the  honor,  the  virtue  and 
the  manhood  of  this  State  with  dollars  and  cents.  [Applause.]  It  is  not  for 
sale,  and  it  never  will  be  for  sale.  [Applause.] 

I  do  not  mean  to  say,  fellow-citizens,  and  I  would  not  say  it  for  anything 
in  the  world,  that  there  are  not  some  good  men  in  this  State  who  have  hon- 
estly been  deluded  by  the  glare  and  glitter  of  this  proposition.  I  know  that 
there  are  good  men  and  true  men  who  have  been  deceived  and  deluded  by 
this  proposition  ;  but  I  believe  that,  as  certain  as  the  sunlight  comes  from  on 
high,  that  when  it  is  discussed  in  a  calm  aad  dispassionate  manner  before 


21 

them  they  will  be  found  ready  to  uphold  the  honor  and  the  dignity  of  their 
State.  [Applause.]  I  have  consideration  for  these  citizens.  But,  fellow 
citizens,  I  have  no  consideration  nor  any  mercy  for  this  great  tempter  which 
s  endeavoring  to  undermine  to-day  the  citizenship  of  Louisiana  by  teaching 
the  dangerous  lesson  that  money  can  be  made  otherwise  than  by  honest  toil, 
and  that  government  can  be  supported  otherwise  than  by  legitimate  taxation. 
[Applause.]  I  have  seen  its  workings.  I  have  seen  it  strike  down  splendid 
manhood  and  crush  it  out  forever.  And  I  have  seen  it,  like  the  monster  that 
it  is,  encircle  within  its  toils  the  best  young  men  of  our  country,  luring  them 
on  to  destruction.  What  cares  it  for  Louisiana  ?  What  cares  it  for  her 
sons?  What  cares  this  concern  for  her  honor?  What  cares  it  for  the  pros- 
perity of  our  State?  When  the  flood  of  waters  broke  in  1882,  deluging  the 
fairest  portions  of  Louisiana  in  its  sweep  and  carrying  destruction  and  deso- 
lation everywhere,  where  was  the  Louisiana  Lottery  Company  then,  with  its 
millions?  [Loud  applause.] 

When  in  1884  the  cry  of  distress   went   up   from    the   overflowed  district, 
where  then,  in  a  single  instance,  did   it   seek   to  alleviate  that  distress?     But 
now,  in  1890,  it  seeks  to  pose  before  the  world  as   the  munificent  benefactor 
of  our  people. 

I  say,  gentlemen,  that  to  me,  to  my  mind, 

OF    ALL    THE    IGNOBLE    ACTS 

that  this  company  has  ever  been  guilty  of,  that  which  it  did  when  it  sent  this 
relief  boat  in  the  guise  of  charity  to  the  overflowed  parishes,  was  the  most 
despicable  and  ignoble,  taking  advantage  of  a  poor,  suffering  people,  taking 
advantage  of  their  wants  and  of  their  distress,  in  order  to  win  them  from 
their  allegiance  to  honor,  and  to  win  them  from  the  path  of  rectitude  to  one 
of  shame,  to  win  them  from  their  loyalty  to  their  State  to  fealty  to  this 
gambling  concern.  [Loud  applause.] 

i  say,  sir,  that  there  are  some  things  I  can  forgive  them  for — the  want  of 
principle — getting  a  man  here  and  there  into  trouble;  getting  some  poor 
clerk  to  steep  his  soul  in  everlasting  sin,  getting  some  poor  market  girl  to 
rob  her  employer,  getting  some  poor,  misguided  youth  to  spend  his  money 
here  and  there;  all  these  I  might  overlook,  but,  great  God,  when  they  strike 
at  the  manhood  of  my  people,  when  they  strike  at  the  honor  of  my  State, 
when  thejr  attempt  to  prostitute  honest  <  overnment  to  their  foul  ends,  when 
they  attempt  to  win  my  people  by  corrupt  gifts,  I  say  that  sin  is  unpardon- 
able. [Loud  applause.] 

Knowing  no  God,  knowing  no  religion,  knowing  no  people,  knowing  no 
faith  or  State,  without  a  habitation,  it  stalks  abroad  in  our  land  seeking  to 
destroy  that  which  we  all  hold  dearer  than  life,  the  honor  of  our  State,  the 
integrity  of  our  party  and  the  absolute  supremacy  of  our  race. 

I  say  to  you,  my  friends,  that  if  there  ever  be  a  cause, 

A   JUST    AND    HOLY    CAUSE, 

almost  as  holy  and  just,  probably  more  so,  in  a  moral  view,  than  that  which 
called  you  to  strap  on  your  knapsacks  in  '61  and  face  the  then  unknown 
hardships  and  perils  of  war,  it  is  the  one  in  which  we  are  now  engaged. 
Now  is  the  time,  gentlemen  of  the  Convention,  to  strap  on  your  knapsacks. 


22 

I  don't  mean  that  there  is  any  physical  war,  but  I  mean  fora  warfare  against 
this  monster  which  is  seeking  to  undermine  the  citizenship  of  this  State,  to 
sap  its  honor  and  destroy  its  future  prosperity;  not  by  argument  but  by  the 
insidious  and  dangerous  workings  of  the  almighty  dollar. 

What  is  it  doing?     What  has  it  done? 

Why,  fellow -citizens,  men  whose  characters  are  as  spotless  as  the  sun, 
men  who  have  devoted  their  time,  their  energies  and  their  splendid  abilities 
to  this  State  and  to  your  service,  men  who  have  been  leaders  in  the  Demo- 
cratic party,  these  are  the  men  it  is  assailing  and  seeking  to  strike  down, 
seeking  to  strike  them  down  through  the  scurrilous  insinuations  of  the  press 
of  our  State  in  order  lhat  the  success  of  this  concern  may  be  built  upon  the 
wrecks  of  their  ruined  reputations. 

Fellow -citizens,  there  are  some  things  that  we  cherish.  There  are  some 
things  that  as  Louisianians  we  ought  to  cherish.  There  are  some  things 
that  ought  to  be  dear  to  us,  and  among  them  is  the  reputation  and  character 
of  our  public  men.  [Loud  applause.]  And  I  tell  you  I  believe  it  is  time  for 
the  manhood  of  this  State,  it  is  time  for  its  courage  and  bravery  to  come  to 
the  rescue  of  the  manhood  of  Louisiana  which  is  sought  to  be  stricken  down 
by  this  monster  in  order  that  it  may  ride  rough-shod  over  the  barriers  which 
the  people  are  placing  across  its  path. 

Mr.  Chairman,  I  have  talked  more  than  I  intended.  In  fact,  when  I  get 
hold  of  this  subject,  it  generally  gets  hold  of  me,  and  runs  entirely  away 
with  me.  [Applause.] 

I  have  nothing  more  to  say  than  this,  that  we  have 

A    LONG    FIGHT    AHEAD 

of  us  if  this  question  ever  goes  to  the  people.  We  have  got  to  keep  up  this 
fight  for  eighteen  months  before  the  decisive  battle  comes  off.  It  will  re_ 
quire  a  good  deal  of  nerve,  a  good  deal  of  energy,  and  a  great  deal  of  endur- 
ance to  stand  this  fight  for  such  a  length  of  time,  but  I  believe  that  as  the 
tide  rolls  on  it  will  grow  stronger  and  stronger.  Its  ground  swells  are 
being  felt  all  over  the  land — even  reaching  the  beautiful  marble  building  on 
St.  Charles  street.  Nexv  Orleans  has  caught  the  contagion  [loud  applause] 
and  I  notice  one  thing  about  New  Orleans — of  course  I  don't  mean  to  say 
that  New  Orleans  is  ever  wrong,  but  when  New  Orleans  is  right,  it  gets 
just  about  as  near  right  and  determined  as  any  place  I  ever  saw.  and  from 
what  I  witnessed  yesterday,  I  think  New  Orleans  is  getting  right  very  fast. 
[Applause.] 

In  the  country  the  tide  has  turned.  In  the  country  the  mutterings  of 
thunder  can  be  heard  not  only  from  the  hills  of  North  Louisiana,  but  it  can 
be  heard  coming  even  from  the  swamp  lands  and  the  spreading  prairies;  and 
the  people  are  in  earnest,  gentlemen.  They  are  fearfully  in  earnest.  They 
see  danger  ahead.  Some  of  them  have  felt  it.  I  tell  you  they  have  felt  it 
up  in  North  Louisiana.  You,  gentlemen,  from  Bienville;  you,  gentlemen 
from  Lincoln.  [Applause.]  You,  gentlemen,  from  Grant — you  have  felt 
the  power  oi  this  concern;  you  know  what  it  can  do,  and  I  tell  you.  with 
*he  same  manhood  and  the  same  courage  with  which  you  are  going  to  fight 


23 

this  thing,  so  it  will  be  fought  even  upon  the  spreading  prairies  of  Opelousas 
and  within  the  swamps  of  the  Attakapas.     [Applause.] 

In  response  to  loud  and  repeated  calls, 

HON.    FELIX   J.     DREYFOUS. 

of  Orleans,  spoke  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Convention — I  beg  your  indulgence 
•while  I  make  a  few  brief  remarks,  fd  I  am  not  accustomed  to  speaking  in 
public.  I  do  a  great  deal  of  thinking,  but  Seldom  ever  speak.  All  I  can  say 
is,  that  when  the  nomination  was  tendered  me  to  represent  the  district  in 
•which  I  live  I  accepted  it,  and  although  I  knew  the  sacrifice  which  it  would 
entail,  I  made  up  my  mind  to  dQ  but  one  thing,  and  that  was  to  fight  the 
lottery  as  long  as  I  could  [loud  applause],  and  immediately  upon  my  elec- 
tion I  proceeded  to  fight.  I  was  told  on  all  sides  that  the  lottery  company 
was  mighty  because  it  had  an  unlimited  supply  of  money,  but  I  felt  and  be- 
lieved that  there  must  be  many  people  in  this  State  whose  love  for  their 
State,  for  their  country,  for  their  children  and  for  their  rights  was  paramount 
to  any  feeling  they  might  have  for  the  lottery  company.  [Applause.] 

When  I  had  the  honor  to  stand  upon  this  floor  as  a  member  of  the  House 
of  Representatives,  I  continued  the  fight  notwithstanding  the  persecution  to 
which  I  was  subjected,  for  I  saw  the  necessity  of  getting  rid  of  the  power 
that  was  controlling  our  politics;  and  when  I  persisted  in  my  opposition  to 
the  lottery  company  I  was  told  by  the  great  Democrat  James  D.  Houston, 
the  partner  of  those  other  good  Democrats,  Albert  Baldwin,  John  A.  Mor- 
ris and  P.  B.  S.  Pinchback,  that  there  was  no  chance  of  ever  getting 
elected  to  any  public  office  if  I  persisted  in  my  fight  against  the  lottery. 
[Applause.] 

Still  the  warfare  against  me  continued  until  I  defied  these  men  who  stated 
that  lotteries  were  a  necessity,  and  I  told  them  on  this  floor  that  I  defied 
them  to  show  the  necessity  therefor.  When  thev  were  confronted  with  the 
proposition  which  was  far  in  excess  of  the  Morris  proposition,  did  they  ac- 
cept it?  Was  it  approved  by  the  newspapers  which  have  been  subsidized  by  that 
lottery  company?  [Applause.]  The  biased  reporters  misinterpreted  my  re- 
marks which  were  to  the  effect  that  I  did  defy  them,  and  I  do  now  defy  them, 
to  show  that  they  voted  for  love  of  State.  They  know  and  we  all  know  it 
was  for  John  A.  Morris- and  Albert  Baldwin.  [Applause.]  I  told  them  I 
was  perfectly  willing  to  sacrifice  any  chances  I  might  have  for  political  ad- 
vancement; that  I  was  not  a  politician,  and  that  I  would  continue  in  my 
course,  and,  as  far  as  my  strength  permitted,  do  all  that  I  could  to  defeat  the 
Morris  proposition. 

I  was  told  that  the  people  who  sent  me  to  represent  them  in  the  Legisla- 
ture had  complained  that  I  was  not  voicing  their  sentiment,  but  I  tell 
you,  gentlemen,  that  since  then  some  of  these  very  people  have  come  to  me 
and  admitted  their  error.  [Great  applause.]  And  I  am  satisfied  that  if  this 
question  ever  comes  before  the  people  (which  I  doubt  very  much)  the  people 
of  the  ward  which  I  have  the  honor  to  represent  will  vote  solidiv  against  the 
Jonerv.  [Applause.] 


NIGHT    SESSION. 

The  Convention  reassembled  at  9  o'clock  p.  m.,  Captain  Bell 
in  the  chair. 

It  was  moved,  and  the  motion  was  carried,  that  the  delegates 
from  the  various  parishes  of  the  State  and  the  representative 
districts  of  the  parish  of  Orleans,  be  requested  to  send  to  the 
secretaries  the  names  of  such  of  their  members  as  they  see  proper 
to  select  for  Vice  Presidents  of  the  Convention  in  accordance 
with  the  request  of  the  Committee  on  Permanent  Organization. 
The  following  names  were  handed  in,  many  of  the  delegations 
not  having  had  an  opportunity  to  consult  on  the  subject : 


Acadia — Dr.  R.  R.  Lyons. 
Ascension — .  R.  McCall. 
Assumption — C.  Numa  Folse. 
Avoyelles — A.  B.  Irion. 
Bienville — F.  G.  Hulse. 
Bossier — J   A.   Snyder. 
Caddo — N.  Gregg. 
Calcasieu — Gabriel  A.  Fournet. 
Cameron — J.  H.  Doxey. 
Catahoula — M.  D.  N.  Thompson 
Claiborne — John  R.  Phipps. 
DeSoto— Wm.  Goss. 
East  Feliciana — D.  W.  Pipes. 


Orleans — 

Sixth— O.  W.  Long. 
Seventh— F.  O.  Koehle. 
Eighth— T.  O'Brien. 
Ninth — R.  L.  Schroeder. 
Tenth — Euelid  Borland 
Eleventh — A.  A.   Woods. 
Twelfth— H.  C.  Miller. 
Thirteenth— E.  R.  Chevalley. 
Fourteenth — -Jos.  H.  Duggan. 
Fifteenth — Thos.  E.  Higgins. 
Sixteenth  and  Seventeenth — 
S.  L.  Henrv. 


East  Baton  Rouge— W.  G.  Sam-Ouachita— F.  P.  Stubbs. 


uels. 

East  Carroll — Peter  Mathison. 
Franklin — A.  A.  Sanders. 
Grant— B.  C.  Dean. 
Iberia — J.  A.  Fagot. 
Iberville— J.  David. 
Jackson — J.  T.  M.  Hancock. 
Jefferson — J.  L.  Boney. 
Lafayette — Overton  Cade. 


Plaquemines — J.  Dymond. 
Pointe  Coupee —  D.  T.  Merrick. 
Rapides — G.  W.  Bolton. 
Red  River — Jas.  F.  Pearson. 
Richland— H.  P.  Wells. 
St.  Bernard— H.  T.  Lawler. 
St.  James— H.  E.  Himel. 
St.  Landry— W.  F.  Clayton. 
St.  Mary— L.  S.  Allemon. 


Lafourche — Judge  J.  M.  Howell.St.  Tammany — Geo.  H.  Gause. 
Lincoln — G.  M  Lomax.  Tangipahoa — O.  P.  Amacker. 

Livingston — John  B.  Easterley.  Terrebonne — Ennis   Williams. 


Morehouse — N.  W.  Johnson. 
Natchitoches— W.  H.   Carver. 
Orleans — 

First  Ward — J.  R.  Con  way. 

Second — Jerry  Lyons. 

Third— M.  J.  Long. 

Fourth — M.  J.  Lehman. 

Fifth— J.  Israel. 


Union— W.  W.  Heard. 
Vernon — Jno..  Franklin. 
Washington — W.  L.  Smith. 
Webster— J.  T.  Watkins. 
West  Baton  Roirge —  A.  Levert. 
West  Carroll— H.  R.  Lott. 
West  Feliciana —  W.  W.  Leake. 
Winn— R.  L.  Tannehill. 


25 

Mr.  E.  T.  Merrick,  Jr.,  of  Orleans,  offered  a  resolution,  endors- 
ing THE  NEW  DELTA. 

Mr.  J.  Massie  Martin — I  make  this  motion.  The  resolution 
which  has  been  offered  by  the  gentleman  in  regard  to  the  NEW 
DELTA  has  been  handed  over  to  the  Committee  on  Resolutions. 
I  think,  gentlemen  of  the  convention,  that  we  can  afford  to  pass 
these  resolutions  without  passing  them  over  to  the  Committee. 
I  think  that  it  is  due  to  the  NEW  DELTA  to  pass  it  without  any 
other  formality,  and  I  therefore  make  the  motion  that  these  reso- 
lutions be  acted  upon  immediately. 

Col.  Frank  C.  Zacharie,  of  Orleans,  said  that  there  had  already 
been  handed  into  the  Committee  a  resolution  upon  this  subject, 
and  that  it  would  be  a  work  of  supererogation  to  pass  one  reso- 
lution now,  and  then  pass  another  resolution  which  is  already 
complete  and  covers  more  ground  and  has  in  view  substantial 
and  practical  action  in  regard  to  converting  the  Neva  Delta 
into  a  morning  paper.  Mr.  Zacharie  then  suggested  that  the 
resolution  take  its  regular  course. 

Mr.  Martin  withdrew  his  motion. 

The  resolution  referred  to  reads  as  follows: 

WHEREAS,  of  all  the  papers  published  in  the  metropolis  of  the  South, 
there  is  but  one  bold  and  independent  enough  to  join  us  in  fighting  for  the 
cause  of  honest  and  pure  government;  and 

WHEREAS,  that  one  paper,  single  and  alone,  has  been  most  ably  and  fear- 
lessly conducted;  and 

WHEREAS,  all  other  daily  papers  published  in  the  city  of  New  Orleans 
have  not  even  had  the  courage  to  state  the  facts  concerning  the  anti-lottery 
movement;  therefore 

Be  it  Resolved,  That  it  is  the  sense  of  this  Convention  that  the  New 
Delta's  course  in  the  past  be  approved;  that  our  aid  and  encouragement  be 
extended  to  it  in  the  future,  and  tha1:  prompt  and  effective  measures  be  taken 
to  the  end  that  the  New  Delta  be  established  as  a  morning  paper. 

Mr.  L.  F.  Paychaud  offered  the  following  resolution,  which 
was  referred  to  the  committee  on  resolutions  : 

Resolved  by  the  Anti- Lottery  Democratic  Convention,  That  it  is  the 
sense  of  the  Convention  that  the  members  of  the  Anti-Lottery  League 
throughout  the  State,  and  the  sympathizers  in  the  mighty  struggle  for  the 
sovereignty  and  independence  of  the  State,  do  boycott  the  Times-Democrnt, 
the  Daily  States  and  the  City  Item  of  New  Orleans. 

A  Voice — They  are  Republican  papers  and  the  people  cannot 
depend  on  them. 


26 
Mr.  E.  T.  Merrick  submitted  the  folio wi no-  : 

£5 

To  the  President  of  the  Anti-Lottery  Convention,  Baton  Rouge,  La.  : 

THE  PEOPLE  OF  CRYSTAL  SPRINGS,  MISS., 

in  mass  meeting  assembled,  send  greeting  to  the  Anti-Lottery  Convention 
of  Louisiana.  We  join  with  you  in  expressing  abhorrence  of  the  degrading 
and  debauching  influence  of  the  Lottery  Company,  and  trust  that  in  fighting 
the  accursed  monster  you  will  acquit  yourselves  ns  true  men  and  uphold  in 
peaceful  times  that  which  in  war  was  always  nobly  defended,  the  honor  and 
fair  fame  of  Louisiana.  J.  M.  NEWTOX, 

Chairman  Citizens'  Meeting. 

George  A.  Newton,  chairman  of  committee  ;  J.  W.  McNeili,  W.  C.  Wil- 
kinson, A.  Lotterhas,  R.  E.Jones,  Ira  M.  Eagan,  V.  L.  Terrell,  J.  M.  New- 
ton. 

And  offered  the  following  resolution  : 

WHEREAS,  the  citizens  of  Crystal  Springs,  Miss.,  in  mass  meeting 
assembled,  have  sent  greetings  to  this  Convention,  with  words  of  cheer  and 
encouragement  ; 

Resolved,  That  the  President  do  return  the  fraternal  sentiments  expressed 
by  the  citizens  of  Crystal  Springs  to  the  Mayor  of  the  city,  with  the  expres- 
sion of  the  high  appreciation  of  this  Convention  for  the  interest  of  the  citi- 
zens of  our  sister  State  in  the  struggle  we  are  waging  with  the  Lottery  Com- 
pany. 

Mr.  Bolton  moved  to  amend  that  the  Convention  will  uphold 
the  honor  and  the  fair  name  of  Louisiana.  Adopted  by  a  unani- 
mous rising  vote. 

It  was  then  moved  and  seconded  that  the  people  of  Crystal 
Springs  be  informed  of  the  adoption  of  the  resolution.  Carried. 

Mr.  E.  D.  Farrar,  on  behalf  of  the  committee  on  the  prepara- 
tion of 

AN  ADDRESS  TO  THE  PEOPLE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

submitted  the  following  report  : 

To  the  people  of  the  United  States  :  Your  fellow-citizens  of  the  State  01 
Louisiana  opposed  to  lottery  gambling  and  lottery  charters,  assembled  in 
convention  at  Baton  Rouge  this  7th  day  of  August,  1890,  make  to  you  this 
appeal  for  aid  in  the  struggle  they  are  engaged  in  with  a  powerful  gambling 
corporation  which  sits  here  among  us,  like  a  giant  octopus,  and  stretches  its 
arms  to  the  remotest  hamlet  in  the  land.  For  your  sympathy  they  ask  nob 
because  that  they  have  this  well  they  know  by  the  unanimous  voice  of  the 
free  press  of  this  great  country,  which,  untouched  and  untouchable  by  lottery 
influence,  has  denounced,  in  .no  uncertain  tones,  the  infamy  we  are  combat- 
ing. We  desire  briefly  to  state  to  you  the  facts.  In  1868  the  carpet-bag 
Legislature  of  Louisiana,  at  the  instigation  of  a  syndicate  of  gamblers 
formed  in  New  York  in  1863,  composed  of  John  A.  Morris,  Ben  Wood,  C. 


H.  Murray  and  others,  chartered  the  Louisiana  Lottery  Company  with  a 
capital  of  $1,000,000,  giving  it  a  monopoly  of  drawing  lotteries  in  the  State 
for  twenty-five  years.  This  grant  was  notoriously  obtained  by  bribery  and 
corruption.  At  that  time  the  public  regarded  it  with  horror,  and  the  men 
connected  with  it  were  pursued  with  public  and  private  condemnation  and 
disgrace.  For  ten  years  it  maintained  itself  against  constant  legislative 
assault  by  similar  corrupt  means.  In  1879  the  Legis'ature  repealed  this 
charter,  a  result  accomplished  by  a  majority  of  only  two  votes  in  the  Senate. 
This  repeal  was  practically  nullified  by  an  injunction  issued  by  Edward  C. 
Billings,  United  States  district  judge  for  Louisiana,  who  held  in  -the  very 
teeth  of  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  rendered  in 
the  similar  case  of  Boyd  vs.  Alabama,  that  an  immoral  bargain,  such  as  this 
charter  enclosed,  was  a  sacred  contract  protected  by  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States  and  binding  upon  the  police  power  of  a  sovereign  State. 
The  same  Legislature  that  repealed  this  charter  called  a  constitutional  con- 
vention. This  convention  was  attacked  by  the  lottery  people  with  money, 
with  Judge  Billings'  decision,  with  promises  to  give  up  its  monopoly,  to  retire 
from  politics,  and  to  allow  a  provision  to  be  inserted  in  the  constitution,  pro- 
hibiting all  lotteries  after  Jan  i,  1895. 

Several  distinguished  attorneys  of  the  lottery  company  were  elected  to  this 
body.  The  whole  convention  was  surrounded  by  a  strong  lobby  of  pur- 
chased respectability.  Under  these  combined  influences,  a  provision  was 
inserted  in  the  projected  constitution  reinstating  the  repealed  charter,  with- 
out the  monopoly  feature,  permitting  the  Legislature  to  charter  other  lot- 
teries, and  providing  that  after  Jan.  i,  1895,  all  lotteries  should  be  prohibited. 
This  provision  was  intended  and  regarded  as  a  compromise,  and  rather  than 
.lefeat  the  whole  constitution  in  which  it  was  imbedded  the  people  adopted  it 
/vith  the  belief  that  in  a  few  years  the  evil  would  die  beyond  any  prospect  of 
resurrection,  and  such  was  the  pledge  of  the  lottery  company.  Mark  the 
result.  With  this  new  lease  of  life  came  a  new  lease  of  power  and  pros- 
perity jncredible.  They  have  practically  enjoyed  their  renounced  monopoly 
by  preventing  every  Legislature  elected  since  1880  from  granting  additional 
lottery  charters.  This  has  be  accomplished  by  the  unlimited  use  of  money, 
by  playing  npon  the  opposition  of  good  men  to  the  multiplication  of  such 
charters,  and  by  their  control,  through  the  ownership  of  certain  dominant 
politicians  of  both  political  parties,  of  nominations  to  the  Legislature.  The 
market  value  of  their  stock  has  risen  from  $35  per  share  in  1879,  to  I1 200  per 
share  in  1890,  so  that  now  it  is  more  than  double  that  of  the  whole  banking 
capital  of  the  State.  They  have  built  up  the  original  capital,  which  was 
never  subscribed,  and  have  accumulated  an  enormous  surplus  of  unknown 
amount,  while  declaring  dividends  of  from  So  to  170  per  cent  per  annum 
and  that,  too,  out  of  only  one-half  of  the  net  earnings,  as  the  other  halt 
belongs  to  the  lessees,  Howard  and  Morris. 

Definite  information  as  to  their  list  of  stockholders,  officers,  profits  and 
business  affairs  cannot  be  obtained,  as  they  are  kept  studiously  concealed 
from  the  public.  The  scheme  of  their  drawings  has  increased  from  a 
monthly  capital  prize  of  $30,000  to  a  monthly  capital  prize  of  $300,000  and  a 
semi-annual  prize  of  $600,000. 


28 

The  aggregate  of  the  schemes  of  the  monthly  ana  semi-annual  drawings  is 
the  fabulous  sum  of  $28,000,000  per  annum  and  the  aggregate  of  their  daily 
drawings  is  over  $20,000,000  more.  They  receive  annually  a  million  and  a 
quarter  from  the  written  policies  sold  on  the  numbers  of  the  daily 
drawing,  apart  from  the  regular  printed  tickets.  They  receive  annually 
about  $22,000,000  from  theii  monthly  and  semi-annual  drawings.  The 
schemes  of  the  last  drawings  are  so  ai  ranged  that  they  can  sell  75  per  cent, 
of  their  tickets,  pay  10  per  cent  for  selling  them,  lose  all  the  prizes  provided 
for  in  the  schemes,  pay  $1,000,000  for  expenses,  and  still  make  $3,000,000 
profit  per  annum. 

We  make  no  idle  assertion  when  we  denounce  these  schemes  as  fraudulent, 
even  from  a  lottery  standpoint.  This  company  offers  to  distribute  less  than 
53  per  cent  in  prizes.  No  authorized  lottery  on  earth  that  we  know  of  outside 
of  Mexico,  is  allowed  to  distribute  less  than  70  per  cent.  The  chance  to 
win  a  prize  of  any  sort  in  one  of  these  drawings  is  about  one  in  thirty, 
whereas  if  it  were  an  honest  lottery  it  \vould  be*  at  least  one  in  ten. 

These  were  the  reasons  which  induced  two  postmasters  general  of  the 
United  Stats  to  exclude  it  from  the  mails  as  a  fraudulent  lottery.  What  is 
known  as  the  daily  drawing  takes  place  every  day  except  Sunday  313  times 
per  annum.  The  scheme  is  based  on  the  ternary  combination  of  the  natural 
numbers  from  one  to  seventy-eight  and  on  some  days  from  one  to  seventy- 
five,  giving  in  the  one  case  76,076  and  in  the  other  67,525  different  combina- 
tions of  three  numbers  each.  The  prizes  paid  are  out  of  all  honest 
proportion  to  the  cost  of  the  tickets  or  the  chances  of  winning.  For  in- 
stance, for  a  $i  ticket  the  chances  of  winning  a  prize  of  85  cents  is  one  in 
three;  winning  a  prize  of  $1.70,  one  in  nineteen,  and  of  winning  a  prize  of 
$4.25  is  one  in  1237. 

In' addition  to  these  printed  tickets  written  policies  or  bets  on  the  numbers 
of  the  daily  drawings  are  taken  at  the  tancy  of  the  bettor,  with  a  percentage 
of  from  22  to  41  per  cent  in  favor  of  the  lottery. 

There  are  more  than  a  hundred  policy  shops  in  the  city  of  New  Orleans 
where  such  tickets  are  written.  They  are  placed  at  points  where  they  way- 
lay the  wage-earner  in  his  progress  to  and  'from  his  work.  From  the  best 
information -we  can  get  the  receipts  of  these  shops  average  about  $30  per 
diem.  They  swarm  daily  with  slatternly  women,  barefooted  children, 
bloused  workingmen,  youthful  clerks  and  household  servants  sent  to  market 
on  some  purchasing  errand.  None  but  the  poor  and  ignorant  enter  these 
direful  doors.  Some  of  these  shops  keep  "  dream  books  "  and  other  stimu- 
lants to  aid  the  superstitious  in  selecting  lucky  numbers. 

By  daily  repetition  of  play  thousands  of  poor  wretches  become  afflicted 
with  the  "  lottery  craze,"  and  to  gratify  this  theft  and  embezzlement  enter 
innumerable  households.  We  have  the  authority  of  the  letter v  that  93  per 
cent  of  this  enormous  revenue  of  $22,000,000  —  a  revenue  greater  than  that 
of  any  five  average  states  in  this  Union  —  comes  from  the  people  of  this 
country  outside  of  the  State  of  Louisiana,  because  its  advocates  have  the 
effrontery  to  use  this  fact  as  an  argument  for  its  recharter  by  the  people  of 
Louisiana. 


2Q 

Through  the  purchase  of  stock  by  its  stock-holders  and  friends  it  has  ob- 
tained control  of  a  large  portion  of  the  organized  capital  of  the 
State.  Its  strong  nand  on  the  financial  springs  of  a  commercial 
community  is  so  masterful  as  to  silence  the  opposition  of  the  cautious  and  to 
attract  the  support  of  ihe  timid. 

Uv  the  force  and  glitter  of  its  money  power  it  has  warped  the  judgment  and 
blunted  the  conscience  of  many  good  people,  making  them  also  first  apolog- 
ists for  and  then  desirous  of  such  riches,  even  though  the}'  be  obtained  without 
honor  and  in  desecration  of  the  "dignity  of  labor  and  the  long  pedigree  of 
toil."  It  has  captured  three-fourths  of  the  Louisiana  press,  either  by  con- 
trol of  the  capital  invested,  or  by  purchase  of  the  proprietors. 

In  localities  where  it  could  not  purchase  the  local  press  it  has  started  a 
hireling  press  of  its  own.  To  emphasize  this  assertion  we  state  the  fact  that 
the  most  blatant  anti-lottery  papers  in  the  State  of  a  few  years  ago  are  to- 
day violent  partisans  of  the  lotteiy.  Its  iniquitous  business  is  blazoned  by 
advertisements  of  winnings,  often  fictitious,  all  over  the  country,  and  it  has 
thus  created,  and  thus  it  stimulates  a  gambling  thirst  in  tens  of  thousands  of 
ignorant  and  credulous  persons  from  whom  it  monthly  receives  its  enormous 
ill-gotten  gains. 

While  the  United  States  Postoffice  Department  is  the  principal  instru- 
ment of  its  robbery  of  the  people  outside  of  Louisiana,  yet  the  express  com- 
panies also  lend  material  aid.  Being  itself  excluded  from  the  mails  as  a  fraud- 
ulent lottery,  it  skulks  under  the  individual  name  of  its  President  and  the 
name  of  a  national  bank  chartered  by  the  national  government.  It  is  esti- 
mated that  one-third  of  the  whole  local  mail  matter  that  passes  through  the 
New  Orleans  postoffice  is  lottery  mail,  and  that  $30,000  per  diem  in  postal 
notes  and  monev  orders  are  paid  to  its  stalking-horse  bank.  The  temptation 
to  hold  on  to  this  power  and  to  continue  to  amass  this  wealth  has  induced 
these  lottery  people  to  violate  all  their  promises  and  pledges  made  to  the 
framers  of  the  Constitution  and  to  the  people  of  Louisiana,  reiterated  again 
and  again,  and  in  pursuance  of  this  broken  taith  they  have  precipitated  the 
present  conflict  by  agitating  for  a  renewal  of  the  charter.  This  agitation  has 
drawn  the  attention  of  the  good  people  of  the  State,  hitherto  sleeping,  to  the 
history  and  acts  of  the  Louisiana  Lottery,  and  the  results  of  that  investiga- 
tion we  have  spread  before  you  in  this  memorial. 

By  the  Legislature  just  adjourned  an  attempt  has  been  made  to  submit  a 
Constitutional  amendment  to  be  voted  on  by  the  people  in  1898,  giving  to 
John  A.  Morris,  a  member  of  the  original  gambling  syndicate  of  1863,  one 
ot  the  original  promoters  of  the  Louisiana  Lottery  Company,  and  now  its 
lessee  and  largest  stockholder,  and  his  unnamed  associates,  the  practically 
exclusive  privilege  of  drawing  lotteries  in  Louisiana  for  twenty-five  years, 
from  January  i,  1894,  in  consideration  of  the  payment  to  the  State  of  $1,250,- 
ooo  per  annum. 

The  statement  of  the  proposition  demonstrates  the  enormity  of  the  crime 
involved  in  it.  John  A.  Morris  and  his  associates,  who  neither  toil  nor  spin, 
who  take  or  pay  no  honest,  wage,  make  no  product,  till  no  field,  sow  no  crop 
reap  no  harvets,  who  add  nothing  to  the  sum  of  human  wealth  or  happiness, 


30 

are  to  be  authorized  by  a  sovereign  State  for  a  paltrv  participation  in  the 
plunder  to  convert  her  territory  tor  a  generation  into  a  gambling  snare  for 
the  unwary  of  this  whole  country  and  to  filch  from  them  by  fraudulent  lot- 
tery schemes  untold  millions.  There  are  no  limitations  on  this  proposed 
grant.  There  are  no  penalties  for  its  abuse.  It  is  placed  beyond  the  reg- 
ulating power  of  the  Legislature.  All  amendments  tending  to  prevent  the 
drawing  of  fraudulent  lottery  schemes  were  voted  down. 

We  beseech  your  aid  to  help  us  crush  this  monster.  With-  this  vast  cor-" 
rupt  money  power  to  confront,  we  know  that  we  have  a  battle  to  flght  such 
as  no  people  ever  fought  before.  We  shrink  not  from  the  contest  ;  the  true 
sons  of  Louisiana  have  never  failed  her  in  her  hour  of  need.  They  are  as 
ready  now  as  ever  to  spend  their  fortunes  and  shed  their  blood  in  defense  of 
her  honor. 

But  this  fight  is  not  only  ours,  but  yours  also.  Aside  from  the  pollu- 
tion of  its  presence,  a  great  part  of  the  harm  done  and  to  be  done  by 
this  robber  of  the  people  is  beyond  the  borders  of  this  State,  among 
the  people  of  our  sister  States  of  the  Union.  If  the  taint  of  a  State 
organized  crime  could  be  confined  Within  the  limits  of  the  organizing  State 
the  evil  might  be  small  and  the  ground  of  complaint  local,  but  we  protest 
that  it  is  against  the  fundamental  principles  of  this  Union  and  violative  of 
the  sacred  sisterhood  of  the  States  that  one  of  their  number  should,  for  a  pit- 
tance of  revenue,  charter  a  piratical  corporation  to  prey  upon  the  ignorance 
the  credulity  and  the  cupidity  of  the  citizens  of  all  the  others,  and  to  station 
its  minions  broadcast  through  the  land  to  violate  their  laws. 

If  any  State  is  so  shameless  thus  to  use  its  at  present  untrammeled  power, 
it  ought  to  be  and  must  be  restrained  by  the  united  power  of  the  American 
people. 

To  that  end  we  recommend  the  immediate  adoption  of  an  amendment  to 
the  Federal  Constitution  prohibiting  any  State  from  chartering  or  licensing 
any  lottery  or  gift  enterprise,  abolishing  those  already  established,  and  giv- 
ing the  Congress  power  to  enforce  the  prohibition  by  appropriate  legislation. 

A  proposition  to  amend  the  Constitution  covering  all  this  ground,  except 
the  abolition  of  existing  lotteries,  is  now  before  a  committee  of  the  United 
States  Senate,  having  been  introduced  by  Senator  Blair,  of  New  Hampshire. 

Such  amendment  cannot,  in  the  natural  order  of  things,  be  put  in  force  for 
some  time.  Until  that  time  comes,  we  ask  the  adoption  by  the  Congress  of 
some  appropriate  legislation  under  the  existing  state  of  the  Constitution 
aimed  at  the  heart  of  this  devouring  dragon.  The  legislation  specially 
recommended  by  the  President  and  Postmaster  General  to  exclude  lottery 
business  and  advertisements  from  the  mails  and  express  companies  is  aimed 
in  the  right  direction,  and  we  ask  its  speedy  adoption. 

With  a  national  evil  of  great  magnitude  to  correct,  and  with  the  clear 
constitutional  power  to  crush  that  evil  effectively,  why  should  the  Congress 
and  the  American  people  hesitate  to  strike?  We  ask  every  citizen  this 
country  to  use  his  influence  with  the  existing  Congress  to  have  the  above 
suggested  legislation  speedily  adopted. 

We  ask  that  all  candidates  of  all  parties  for  the  Legislatures  of  the  various 
States  be  required  to  pledge  themselves  to  vote  for  any  amendment  proposed 


by  Congress  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  prohibiting  and  abol- 
ishing State  lotteries.  All  this  we  ask  in  the  name  of  our  common  citizen- 
ship of  this  republic  and  in  behalf  of  the  public  honor,  the  public  interest 
and  the  public  and  piivate  welfare  of  the  commou wealth  of  States. 

We  further  request   the  free  press  to  give  this  address  the  widest  publicity. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

EDGAR  H.  FARRAR,  Chairman. 

The  report  was  read  by  Mr.  Farrar,  amidst  great  applause, 
and  at  its  conclusion  there  were  cries  of  "  Farrar!  Farrar!  " 

MR.     FARRAR 

ascended  the  rostrum  and  spoke  as  follows: 

Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Convention  —  I  had  naturally  in- 
tended to  speak  to  this  address,  but  an  exhausting  session  of  five  hours  con- 
tinuous sitting  over  the  formulation  of  these  resolutions  spent  in  reaching 
an  agreement  as  to  its  various  clauses,  has  brought  me  to  that  physical  con- 
dition of  hunger  and  thirst  where  I  do  not  think  I  am  in  any  condition  to 
make  to  such  a  convention  as  this  any  extended  remarks;  but  I  am  like  a  gen- 
tleman who  stood  on  this  stand  to-da»  and  said  that  he  felt  about  this  lottery 
question  so  strongly,  that  when  he  took  hold  of  it  it  took  hold  of  him  and 
ran  away  with  him. 

It  takes  hold  of  me,  gentlemen,  in  the  same  way;  and  in  my  opinion  it 
must  take  hold  of  every  man  in  the  State  who  posseses  the  power  of  reflec- 
tion: who  stops  and  thinks  about  what  is  going  to  happen  to-morrow,  the 
next  week  and  the  next  year;  especially  a  man  who  has  a  family,  who  has 
children  to  bring  up  and  who,  naturally  in  his  paternal  affection,  looks  to  thtf 
atmosphere  that  is  going  to  Surround  these  children  as  they  grow  up  in  life: 
still  more  so,  if  he  is  a  man  born  in  a  free  country,  a  man  born  a  freeman, 
and  who  desires  to  remain  one. 

.  Now,  gentlemen,  there  are  so  many  sides  from  which  you  can  look  at  this 
lotterv  question,  that  it  is  useless  to  discuss  the  broad  ground  of  its  morality 
or  its  immorality.  God  knows  that  ground  is  broad  enough;  but  there  are 
plenty  of  people  in  this  world  with  whom  that  sort  of  argument  has  no 
weight. 

It  is  equally  useless  to  discuss  the  broad  ground  of 

THE   FCONOMIC  CRIME 

involved  in  a  State's  attempting  to  support  itself  by  organizing  a  widespread 
system  of  public  gambling,  although  that  ground  is  broad  enough  to  suit  all 
persons  whose  intelligence  can  be  reached  by  an  economic  argument. 

It  is  also  useless  to  discuss  the  question  of  the  local  evil  that  it  causes  to 
people  \vho  are  beyond  the  reach  of  that  local  evil.  But  there  is  a  point, 
gentlemen,  from  which  this  lottery  proposition  appeals  to  every  man  who 
has  a  head  on  his  shoulders  and  a  heart  in  his  bosom,  and  who  is  entitled  to 
be  considered  a  masculine  creature,  and  that  is  this  : 


32 

I  believe  that  the  last  sentiment  which  is  left  in  the  human  heart   after 
every  other  one  is  gone,  is  the  sentiment  of  liberty,  the  sentiment  of  personal 
liberty,  and  its  co-equal   sentiment  of  political  liberty.     It  is  found  in  the 
man  of  high  class  ;  it  is  found  in  the  man  of  low  class.     Men  have  it  who 
have  no  sense  of  morality,  no  sense  of  political  economy,  no  care  or  heart  for 
that  which  will  come  to  others  after  their  own  breasts  have  ceased  to  heave- 
Now,  let  us  see  how  this  lottery  question  is  going  to  bear  upon  that  dear- 
est thing  which  outlasts  all  others  with  men  of  all  classes — personal  liberty. 
Aristotle  says  that  an  oligarchy  is  formed   for  the   purpose  of  wealth,  and 
that  its  object  is  the  acquirement  of  wealth  ;  but  that 

A  DEMOCRACY 

s  formed  for  the  purpose  of  freedom,  and  that  its  object  is  the  acquisition  of 
individual  freedom  for  its  citizens.  The  result  of  the  principle  is  that  wher- 
ever you  erect  in  a  democracy — the  object  of  which  is  freedom — anything 
which  operates  contrary  to  the  principles  of  democracy,  you  necessarily  im- 
pair the  result  for  which  democracy  was  established — freedom. 

If  vou  attempt  to  run  a  democracy  and  oligarchy  together,  the  oligarchy 
will  swallow  up  the  democracy-  It  has  always  been  so  throughout  the  his- 
tory of  the  world. 

Hence,  the  principle  that,  in  a  free  government,  the  organization  of  any 
great  centralizing  power — especially  a  money  power — is  inimical  to  the 
freedom  of  the  people  of  that  community. 

It  is  bad  enough,  gentlemen,  that  the  want*  of  modern  life  and  the  pro- 
gress of  modern  society  should  require  that  we  establish  great  corporations 
for  beneficent  purposes. 

I  say  it  is  bad  enough  for  our  liberty  that  we  should  have  great  corpora- 
tions spreading  over  your  land  like  the  Pennsylvania  railroad  spreads  over 
the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  and  that  notoriously  dominates  its  politics,  and 
has  done  so  for  years.  I  might  further  instance  the  Standard  Oil  Company 
in  Ohio  and  in  other  localities,  and  other  large  corporations  engaged  in  other 
lines  of  business. 

Each  ot  you  can  take  that  argument  and  illustrate  it  by  going  into  smaller 
communities  and  towns  in  your  own  neighborhoods,  where  the  rich  and  pow- 
erful man  or  the  rich  and  powerful  corporation  dominates  the  political  situa- 
tion of  the  community.  * 

I  say   . 

IT  IS  BAD  ENOUGH 

for  liberty  that  the  wants  of  civilization  and  of  society  result  in  the  establish- 
ment of  agencies  of  this  sort,  which,  being  engaged  in  necessary  and  legiti- 
mate enterprises,  are  rooted  in  law  and  have  the  protective  shield  of  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  State  and  of  the  United  States  throwu  around  them  ;  but 
what  shall  we  say  when  it  is  proposed  to  establish  here  a  corporation  that  is 
not  a  business  corporation,  unless  lottery  gambling  can,  through  the  crime- 
cloaking  euphemism  of  certain  newspapers  of  this  State,  be  called  an  honora- 
ble and  legitimate  business. 


I  say,  gentlemen,  stop  and  think  of  it.  Here  is  a  corporation,  the  extent 
oi  whose  power  and  revenue  you  have  heard  detailed  in  the  memorial  that 
I  have  just  read  ;  a  revenue  greater  than  the  average  revenue  of  any  five 
States  in  this  Union  ;  a  revenue  greater  than  trat  of  the  largest  corporations 
formed  for  purposes  of  trade  or  transportation  ;  a  revenue  that  goes  into  the 
millions  upon  millions,  and  how  is  that  corporation  rooted  ?  What  are  the 
foundations  of  its  rights?  Are  they  rock-rooted  in  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  ?  Are  they  beyond  the  reach  of  the  public  will  ?  Can  any 
Assembly  or  Legislature  come  along  and  take  them  away  ?  Let  us  examine 
this.  You  cannot  raid  and  rob  by  the  public  exercise  of  mere  power  a  rail- 
road or  a  bank,  or  any  other  corporation.  You  cannot  take  my  rights  away 
from  me.  I  am  protected  by  the  Constitution  I  am  a  citizen.  I  make  a 
contract ;  it  is  valid  and  can  be  enforced,  and  no  Legislature  can  impaii  its 
obligation.  But  this  corporation — what  is  it  ?  What  is  the  basis  of  its 
rights  ?  We  have  not  got  far  to  go  to  find  that.  That  has  been  declared  by 
the  highest  tribunal  in  this  country.  It  has  been  declared  by  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States.  It  has  been  declared  by  that  great  court  that 
the  granting  of  a  lottery  charter  is  not  a  contract — is  not  within  the  domain 
of  contracts,  but  that  it  is  a  mere  license,  revocable. at  the  will  of  the  power 
that  gave  it. 

Now,  gentlemen,  figure  for  yourselves  tnis  proposition.  Here  is  a  corpo- 
ration with  an  annual 

REVENUE    OF    TWENTY-FIVE    MILLIONS 

per  annum,  and  its  rights  rest  in  the  popular  breeze.  The  power  that  gave 
them  can  take  them  away.  The  power  that  sent  it  into  existence  can  destroy 
it.  Think,  gentlemen,  a  revenue  of  twenty -five  millions  per  annum  standing 
upon  a  precarious  basis  of  that  sort.  What  is  the  result?  Why,  that  cor- 
poration will  bend  every  energy,  and  will  be  compelled  to  bend  every  energy, 
to  the  bolstering  up  of  that  right.  If  it  depends  upon  the  popular  breeze  it 
is  bound  to  control  the  popular  breeze.  And  if  that  popular  breeze  makes 
legislators  it  is  bound  to  control  those  legislators,  so  that  it  may  retain  the 
power  of  accumulating  this  enormous  annual  sum  of  money. 

What  does  that  lead  to  ?  It  leads  to  this  proposition:  That  you  have 
got,  in  a  free  State  where  men  claim  to  be  free  citizens;  men  with  noble 
political  ambition  ;  men,  a  great  many  of  whom  are  compelled  to  go  into 
public  service  as  a  means  of  livelihood — you  have  got  a  corporation  in  such 
a  State  that  is  compelled  by  money,  to  control  at  whatever  cost,  a  majority 
of  every  Legislature  that  may  assemble  in  your  State. 

I  say  figure  to  yourselves  the  condition  of  personal  freedom  that  would 
exist  under  such  a  state  of  affairs.  Figure  to  yourselves  the  position- that 
any  honorable  man  will  hold  in  such  a  State.  What  is  it,  gentlemen  ?  Why 
I  say  that  he  is  as  abject  a  slave  as  ever  the  sun  shone  on  in  its  progress 
around  the  earth,  I  say  he  has  nothing  on  earth  to  protect  him  but  the  des- 
peration born  of  despair. 

What  can  an  individual,  or  collection  of  individuals,  do  against 

A     MONEY     POWER 

which  has  corrupted  the  people,  corrupted  public  sentiment,  corrupted  pri- 
vate sentiment,  as  this  will  do,  and  put  over  you  and  me  and  every  other 


34 

honorable  man  in  this  State  some  miserable  hireling,  some  degraucJi  wretch, 
too  contemptible  for  consideration,  fitted  for  the  place  only  by  the  degree  of 
his  subserviency  to  his  corrupt  master. 

Mark  another  result,  gentlemen  !  You  will  see  another  great  power — that 
of  the  press — corrupted,  as  you  see  it  corrupted  to-day. 

As  vultures  swoop  to  carrion,  so  will  flock  to  the  standard  of  this  rotten 
power  all  that  army  of  evil  spirits  that  infest  all  society,  selfish  men  who 
seek  a  personal  advantage  at  any  nazard  to  the  public  ,  men  with  spots  on 
their  records,  who  think  they  can  wipe  them  out  by  rushing  into  office  seek- 
ing ;  men  with  empty  pockets,  who  clamoi  to  be  paid  with  money  or  position; 
boodle  ward  Losses,  political  bravos  th^  thirsty  Greeks  of  public  life,  and 
last,  but  no»-  least,  those  creatures  less  than  men  and  more  than  harpies, 
lower  than  the  misthotoi  hired  bv  the  Macedonian  to  Detrav  Athens,  baser 
than  the  deleters  that  pandereH  to  the  cruelty  of  Tiberius,  the  assassins  of 
honor  and  of  reputation  the  hireling  writers  who  oly  the  stiletto  pens  of 
public  slanderers.  [Tremendous  applause.] 

Now,  gentlemen,  I  say  that  is  an  argument  whici. 

APPEALS    TO    EVERY    MAN, 

no  matter  how  high  he  is,  no  matter  how  low  he  is.  You  may  put  it  to  any 
man  and  he  cannot  get  away  from  it ;  b-  cannot  answer  it.  He  has  either 
got  to  say  tha<-  these  people  will  control  the  Legislature  or  that  they  will  not. 
He  cannot  deny  the  legal  necessity  they  are  under  to  control  it.  He  cannot 
deny  the  power  of  any  Legislature  that  may  assemble  to  wipe  the  concern 
out  of  existence  by  calling  a  Constitutional  Convention,  which  shall  take 
proper  action  in  the  matter.  A  majority  of  the  Legislature  can  call  a  Con- 
stitutional Convention  whenever  they  want  to. 

Now  I  say,  inasmuch  as  these  people  are  unable  to  deny  the  necessity  Oi 
protecting  themselves  from  a  legitimate  exercise  of  legislative  power,  are 
they  able  to  deny,  or  is  any  intelligent  man  able  to  deny,  that  the  lottery 
people  will  protect  themselves  to  the  best  of  their  ability — that  they  will  con- 
tinue to  corrupt  the  people  and  corrupt  Legislatures  in  order  to  put  this 
enormous  sum  of  monev  in  their  pockets,  year  by  year. 

Put  the  argument  to  any  intelligent  man,  and  if  he  can  intelligently  an- 
swer it,  then  you  can  make  a  lottery  man  out  of  me. 

Now,  gentlemen,  that's  why  I  believe  that  some  of  the  people  of  this  State 
— a  great  many  of  them,  a  great  many  of  the  good  people — who  are  to-day 
favoring,  or  pretending  to  favor  this  lottery  cause,  don't  understand  this 
question.  They  have  never  heard  it  discussed.  They  don't  appreciate  the 
arguments  involved  in  it.  The  majority  of  the  press  of  this  State  has  been 
all  the  other  way.  and  most  of  those  people  only  read  that  press  ;  they  don't 
read  the  press  on  the  other  side.  They  have  never  heard  the  argument  pre- 
sented, but  they  have  floated  along  in  this  atmosphere  of  delusion  and  crime 
which  surrounded  not  only  our  last  Legislature,  but  surrounds  a  great  many 
localities  in  this  State. 

Now  we  have  got 

TO    RESCUE     OUR    FRIENDS 

from  their  perilous  position,  and  I  don't  think  it's  going  to  do  any  good  to 
antagonize  them  and  make  them  angry.  My  experience  with  human 


35 

nature  teaches  me  that  if  jou  get  a  man  committed  against  a  measure  and 
get  him  angry  you  never  can  get  him  over  on  your  side,  but  if  you  can 
reach  his  intelligence  with  an  argument,  before  he  commits  himself  irrevo- 
cablv  and  before  he  gets  angry,  why  you  can  very  easily  win  him  over  to 
your  side.  Therefore,  I  think,  gentlemen,  that  every  member  of  this  con- 
vention ought  to  convert  himself  into  an  amiable  proselyter,  that  we  should 
start  out  in  this  campaign  intending  to  proselyte  our  friends  with  amiability, 
if  possible.  I  don't  mean  to  say  how  long  that  amiable  campaign  shall  last. 
[Applause.] 

Of  course  there  is  going  to  be  a  limit  to  it  and  we  shall  have  to  change 
our  base  in  case  we  don't  get  along  with  amiability,  and  I  think  that  change 
of  base  wiH  come  with  the  judgment  of  every  man  who  goes  out  upon  this 
mission. 

But  we  have  a  mission  to  perform  in  that  respect,  and  a  great  one.  because 
we  have  got  a  great  many  friends  throughout  the  State  who.  though  they 
are  not  yet  with  us,  believe  in  the  supremacy  of  our  race  and  in  the  supre- 
macy of  the  Democratic  party,  and  I  hope  this  convention  will  do  nothing 
to  alienate  them  from  us,  and  that  it  will  do  nothing  to  antagonize  them  on 
account  of  the  convictions  they  have  so  far  reached;  when  we  finish  our 
work,  here,  and  when  our  good  friends  on  the  other  side  hear  of  the  great 
strong  body  of  men  representing  the  manhood  of  Louisiana  assembled 
here,  they  will  begin  to  think,  and  as  soon  as  we  get  them  to  think,  we  have 
got  them,  because  no  man  can  ever  think  on  this  subject  and  come  to  but 
one  conclusion.  I  thank  you,  gentlemen,  for  your  hearing.  And  now.  I 
move  the  adoption  of  the  address  to  the  people  of  the  United  States  pre- 
pared by  your  committee,  and  the  accompanying  resolutions  by  a  rising 
vote. 

The  address  was  unanimously  adopted  by  a  risinw  vote. 
Hon.  F.  P.  Stubbs  said  he  was  directed  by  the  Committee 
on  Resolutions  and  Address  to  the  People  of  the  State  to 
present  the  following  report,  and  also  to  ask  the  Convention  to 
remit  the  duty  of  preparing  the  address  to  the  people  of  the 
State  to  the  Executive  Committee,  in  view  of  the  fact  tha  so 
important  a  document  requires  great  consideration  and  more  time 
than  was  at  the  disposal  of  the  Committee  on  Resolutions.  Mr. 
Stubbs  then  submitted  a?  the  result  of  the  labors  of  the  committee, 
the  following 

RESOLUTIONS. 

Whereas,  it  is  meet  and  proper  that  this  convention,  consisting  of  959  del- 
egates, representing  fifty-three  of  the  fifty-nine  parishes  of  our  State,  and 
representing  the  Democracy  of  this  commonwealth,  should  upon  this  occa- 
sion give  emphatic  utterance  to  its  political  faith,  as  well  as  its  opinion  of  the 
proposition  to  fasten  upon  us  by  constitutional  amendment  for  twenty -five 
years  the  gambling  lottery  corporation  of  John  A .  Morris  anJ  his  asso- 
ciates; therefore  be  it 


36 

Resolved.  That  we  declare  our  allegiance  to  the  Democratic  party,  and 
reaffirm  our  faith  in  its  time'honored  principles,  that  equal  rights  be  secured 
to  all  and  special  privileges  granted  to  none;  that  the  State  must  control  its 
governmental  affairs  for  the  welfare  and  happiness  of  all  its  citizens,  free 
from  control  or  interference  of  monopolies  or  trusts  of  anv  kind;  that  it  will 
combat  at  all  times  vice  and  corruption,  and  will  forever  oppose  its  perpetu- 
ation in  our  organic  law;  that,  according  to  all  accepted  authority,  restraint 
of  public  gambling  in  every  form  is  under  the  police  power  of  the  State,  and  it 
cannot  and  should  not  be  made  the  subject  of  barter  or  contract;  that  it 
would  be  disgraceful  to  continue  recognition  of  lottery  gambling  in  our 
organic  law. 

Resolved  further  That  the  acceptance  of  th^  proposition  of  John  A. 
Morris  would  subject  our  State  permanently  to  the  contempt  of  all  our  sister 
States;  that  as  faithful  sons  of  Louisiana  and  true  Democrats,  we  will  by  all 
legitimate  means,  resist  the  fastening  of  such  a  stigma  upon  our  beloved  com- 
monwealth, to  which  end  we,  the  members  of  this  Democratic  anti-lottery 
convention  of  Louisiana,  do  now  solemnly  pledge  ourselves. 

Resolved.  That  in  our  opposition  to  the  continuation  of  lotteries  in  this 
State  we  are  but  carrying  out  the  wishes  of  the  people  ef  Louisiana  as  ex- 
pressed in  the  present  Constitution,  and  reiterating  the  doctrines  proclaimed 
by  the  Democratic  party  of  this  State,  voiced  by  Governor  McEnery  in  his 
message  to  the  Legislature  in  1882,  which  was  embodied  in  the  platform  o<" 
the  party  in  December.  1883. 

"The  Constitution  declares  gambling  to  be  a  vice,  yet  it  encourages  that 
vice  in  its  worst  form,  not  only  inciting  to  'breaches  of  faith  and  embezzle- 
ment in  the  effort  to  get  rich  on  the  turn  of  a  wheel,  but  demoralizing  so- 
ciety, corrupting  politics  and  impeding  legislation." 

And  by  Governor  Xicholls,  when  he  said  •  "  If  the  idea  recently  advanced, 
that  the  presence  among  us  of  a  lottery  is  a  boon  and  blessing,  were  enter- 
tained seriously  and  really  by  any  large  part  of  our  population,  we  wculd 
not  be  entitled  to  rate  very  high  in  the  scale  of  civilization,  or  of  morality, 
either  private  or  public.  That  institution  ought  to  be  destroyed  on  both 
political  and  moral  grounds.  Lotteries  not  only  fall  under  the  classification 
of  gambling,  but  of  gambling  of  the  very  worst  description. 

Resolved,  That  we  pronounce  as  untrue  the  statements  that  the  financial 
condition  of  the  State  is  such  that  we  cannot  support  our  Government  and 
educate  our  children  ,  and  declare  that  the  public  revenues  are  steadily  in- 
creasing and  are  larger  than  at  any  time  for  the  last  decade,  and  are  ample 
for  the  maintenance  of  the  Government  honestly  administered.  The  aid 
which  is  needed  to  perfect  our  levee  system,  we  feel  assured,  will  be  given  by 
the  general  Government,  and  given  the  more  freely  and  readily  if  we  do  not 
violate  our  moral  obligations  by  fostering  a  piratical  gambling  concern  to 
prev  upon  the  rest  of  the  Union 

Resolved,  That  we  denounce  the  action  of  the  majority  of  the  Legislature 
at  the  session  of  1890  in  relation  to  the  lottery  question.  In  voting  down  a 
resolution  to  investigate  charges  of  bribery,  in  persistent  efforts  to  further 
the  ends  of  the  lottery  clique  headed  by  John  A.  Morris,  they  have  forfeited 


37 

the  confidence  of  the  people  and  subjected   us  to  the  scornful   reproaches  of 
the  nation. 

Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  this  convention  and  of  the  people  ot  Louis- 
iana are  due  to  those  legislators,  who  despite  all  temptations  remained  true 
to  the  people,  and  did  all  within  their  power  to  uphold  the  principles  af- 
firmed by  this  convention.  That  the  action  of  Governor  Francis  T.  Nicholls 
in  initiating  and  maintaining  opposition  to  the  proposition  to  recharter  lot- 
tery gambling  in  this  State  entitles  him  to  the  gratitude  of  our  people  and 
stamns  him  as  a  patriot  and  statesman. 

Resolved,  That  we  denounce  the  lottery  company  for  having  suborned  and 
debauched  a  large  number  of  the  newspapers  of  this  State  and  we  declare 
that  among  the  many  crimes  of  which  it  has  been  guilty  this  is  one  ot  the 
most  dangerous  to  the  existence  of  free  government  and  degrading  in  ihe 
eyes  of  the  world  •  that  we  desire  on  behalf  of  the  Democratic  party  and  the 
good  people  of  Louisiana  to  tender  thanks  to  those  papers  which  have 
scorned  the  tempter  and  remained  true  to  the  people. 

Resolved,  That  this  convention  expresses  its  appreciation  and  thanks  to 
the  President  of  the  United  States,  the  Postmaster  General  and  Attorney 
General  of  the  United  States  for  the  firm  and  true  stand  taken  by  them  in 
relation  to  the  Louisiana  Lottery,  which  has  grown  to  bp  a  national  evil. 

Resolved,  That   we    recognize  with  pleasure   the  emphatic    declaration  of 
the  organizations,  religious  and  secular,  in   the  State  denouncing  the  exten- 
sions of  the  lottery  charter,  and   cheerfully  accept  the   active    co  operation 
of  all  in  the  good  work  before  us. 
[Signed.] 

F.  P.  STUBBS,  T.  H.  LEWIS, 

E.  A.  PUGH,  J.  A.  TETTS, 
JOHN  DYMOND,                        H.  C.  CALHOUN, 
C.    HARRISON  PARKER,       R.  S.  PERRY, 

F.  McGLOIN  J.  G.  WHITE, 
J.  M.  KENNEDY.                           C.  V.  PORTER, 
JAMES  McCONNEM,,              DR.  L.  G.  PERKINS 

W     C.    ROBERTS. 

The  following  was  offered,  with  the  approval  of  the  committee: 
Resolved,  That  this  convention  cordially  indorses  that  staunch  and  able 
exponent  of  our  cause,  the  New  Orleans  NewDelta,  andjreturns  to  the  patriotic 
gentlemen  who  organized  and  manage  ii  the  heartfelt  thanks  of  the  people 
of  the  State;  and  that  in  order  to  strengthen  their  hands  and  expand  its  in- 
fluence that  the  president  of  this  convention  appoint  one  member  from  each 
delegation  here  present  to  solicit  subscriptions  to  stock,  with  a  view  to  the 
issuance  of  a  daily  morning  journal,  and  that  each  and  every  member  of 
this  convention  pledges  his  support  and  influence  to  increasing  its  circulation 
and  keeping  it  advised  of  the  progress  of  the  cause  in  his  parish. 
The  resolutions  were  unanimously  adopted. 

HON.      FRANK     P.     STUBBS, 

of  Ouachita,  in  response  to  loud  and  repeated  calls  from  the  del- 
egates, ascended  the  rostrum  and  spoke  as  follows: 


38 

Mr.  President — I  believe  it  is  prettv  generally  known  in  this  State  that  I 
am  not  a  politician.  Sometimes,  on  extraordinary  occasions,  I  talk  a  little 
to  our  people  at  home,  but  I  must  admit  when  I  meet  such  a  crowd  as  this 
that  I  do  it  with  a  great  deal  of  trepidation.  You  are  tired  and  I  am  tired,  and 
you  have  been  hearing  brilliant  addresses  all  day  long. 

But,  Mr.  President,  there  is  a  time  in  the  history  of  all  people  when  it  be- 
comes the  duty  of  every  son  of  the  State  to  buckle  on  his  armor  and  come  to 
her  relief.  Three  times  since  I  have  lived  in  this  State,  the  home  of  my 
adoption,  has  she  passed  through  wonderful  crises.  We  all  remember  vhe 
troublous  times  of  1861.  We  recollect  the  troubles  and  the  sufferings  of  the 
people,  but  we  did  not  attempt  to  redress  them  in  this  way. 

Then,  again,  in  1876,  after  we  had  gone  through  that  night  of  depression, 
theft,  robbery  and  oppression,  the  people  of  Louisiana  arose  in  their  might, 
and  every  son  who  was  worthy  to  be  called  a  son  of  Louisiana  came  to  her 
assistance.  All  of  us  remember  the  dreadful  times  through  which  we  passed, 
but  we  achieved  her  deliverance,  and  there  are  no  regrets  upon  the  part  of 
her  sons  for  the  part,  no  matter  how  severe,  it  was  necessary  for  them  to 
perform. 

Now,  Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Convention,  in  my  judgment 
Louisiana  is  undergoing  to-day  the  severest  trial  of  her  Statehood.  I  have 
had  but  little  to  do  with  her  politics  since  1878.  I  have  never  been  a  candi- 
date for  an  office,  have  never  asked  the  suffrages  of  the  people,  but  I  say 
that  the  crisis  that  is  now  upon  us  is  such  as  to  command  the  earnest  atten- 
tion of  every  son  of  this  State  who  desires  her  deliverance  from  impending 
destruction. 

Why.  sir,  when  this  thing  was  threatened  last  winter  it  came  as  a  whisper. 
It  captured  many  of  vis  when  it  was  said  that  we  could  get  the  State  debt 
paid  if  we  would  recharter  the  lottery  company.  Why,  I  listened  to  it,  but 
I  found  the  proposition  what  ?  To  sell  your  honor,  to  sell  your  wife  and 
children  ;  that's  what  it  meant,  and  from  that  day,  when  I  reflected  upon 
the  effect  of  the  proposition  that  was  made  to  the  people  of  this  State,  I 
have  been  determined,  and  I  have  enlisted  for  the  war  and  I  intent  to  stay 
there. 

I  did  not  make  much  fuss  when  I  came  down  here  on  another  mission  to 
Baton  Rouge.  The  people  of  this  State  can  never  sufficiently  honor  the 
true  man  who  stood  true  to  his  manhood  ;  that  noble  man  whom  you  have 
honored  this  evening  with  approval  of  his  conduct — Governor  Nicholls. 
When  I  came  here  before  I  saw  conspicuous  on  the  streets  and  around  these 
restaurants  and  saloons — the  town  swarmed — swarmed,  that's  the  word,  with 
the  emissaries  of  this  lottery  concern.  It  was  disgusting.  I  say  that  no 
man  could  come  here,  in  my  judgment,  that  had  his  heart  in  the  right  place 
and  see  what  was  going  on  and  not  condemn  it. 

But,  gentlemen,  I  state  that  Louisiana  is  now  in  the  greatest  throes  of  her 
existence.  This  is  no  child's  play.  I  consider  the  question  now  at  issue  in 
this  State  to  be  whether  Louisiana  as  a  State  is  to  sell  her  sovereignty,  ab- 
solutely and  outright  or  not.  That  is  the  question  ;  that  is  the  practical 
question.  Would  you  give  her  away  for  $1,250,000  a  year  to  John  A. 


39 

Morris?  It  is  an  absolute  sale  of  Louisiana  and  r.ii  ner  interests.  That  is 
\vhat  it  means.  I  put  aside  the  moral  aspect.  I  say  that  the  past  demon- 
strates the  fact  that  John  A.  Morris  will  have  and  must  of  necessity  have 
the  control  of  the  State,  and  when  he  buys  it  he  is  entitled  to  the  control  of 
it.  [Laughter.] 

Now,  gentlemen,  are  you  willing  to  sell  Louisiana?  [Cries  of  "  No  t 
No  !  "]  I  have  a  tamily  that  I  think  a  good  deal  of — more  than  I  do  of  anv- 
body  else's  family  [laughter],  but  I  don't  propose  to  sell  it  ;  and  I  would  con- 
sider that  if  we  fell  in  with  the  proposition  of  Mr.  Morris  that  we  are  not 
only  selling  the  State,  but  the  freedom  of  her  citizens,  because  you  could  not 
pass  a  law  for  your  protection  or  for  the  fostering  of  any  industry  that  you 
have  without  you  did  it  with  his  consent,  lor  he  makes  your  legislators,  and 
he  perforce  will  make  the  people  who  are  to  enforce  your  laws.  You  are  his 
servants,  you  and  your  family  for  all  time  ;  for  I  mean  if  he  has  it  for  twentv- 
five  years  to  come  he  has  it  forever.  I  believe  that  is  the  necessarv  result 
That  is  the  mistake  that  the  people  of  this  State  will  make  if  they  fall  into 
this  net  that  this  man  has  set  for  them. 

I  have  no  war  to  make  against  men  who  differ  with  me  and  think — partic- 
ularly .  our  friends  in  the  swamp  parishes — that  they  cannot  get  protection 
unless  they  call  in  Mr.  Morris. 

I  sav  to  vou,  gentlemen,  the  price  you  are  paying  is  high.  I  don't  propose 
to  sell  out  the  State  for  the  purpose  of  getting  the  protection  that  the  money 
that  he  offers  possibly  may  give  you.  But  I  make  this  proposition,  and  it  is 
echoed  in  the  resolutions  which  you  have  adopted  to-night.  I  say  that  the 
statement  that  the  State  of  Louisiana  is  poverty-stricken  to-day  is  not  true. 
I  sav  it  is  untrue  and  I  propose  to  demonstrate  it.  In  1884  we  had  miles  on 
miles  of  levees  down  and  the  mad  waters  pouring  over  thousands  of  acres  of 
our  richest  lands.  In  1890  wre  have,  in  my  section,  a  few  hundred  feet,  less 
than  a  mile,  of  levees  broken,  and  but  a  comparatively  small  area  overflowed. 
The  finances  of  my  section  are  in  a  better  condition  than  they  have  been 
in  Louisiana  for  fifteen  years.  I  can  name,  parish  by  parish,  from  Missis- 
sippi to  the  Texas  State  line,  and  there  is  not  a  parish  in  the  fifth  congres- 
sional district  to-day  that  has  not  got  money  in  the  treasury,  and  is  not 
levying  a  lower  parish  tax  than  they  are  permitted  to  levy  by  law.  The  tax 
throughout  North  Louisiana  is  not  in  excess  of  six  mills.  The  people  do 
not  grumble  about  paying  taxes.  If  your  political  corporations  are  out  of 
debt,  every  one  of  them  have  money  in  the  treasury,  then  where  is  ali  of  this 
poverty? 

I  state  it  as  a  lawyer  who  has  had  more  or  less  to  do  with  he  litigation  in 
my  section  of  the  country  for  the  last  thirty  years,  that  the  litigation  is  less 
in  my  section  of  the  State  than  it  was  twenty  years  ago.  What  do  I  infer 
from  that?  That  the  debts  don't  exist  and  that  the  services  of  lawyers  are 
not  required  to  enforce  payments  of  debts  because  they  don't  exist,  and  I 
draw  the  conclusion,  therefore,  that  private  individuals  are^n  a  better  con- 
dition than  at  any  other  time  since  I  lived  in  Louisiana. 

I  say  that  the  excuse  that  is  offered  by  these  lottery  papers  and  these  lot- 
tery agents  to  make  the  people  think  they  are  poor,  to  hoodwink  them  and 


40  .  • 

justify   the   sale  of  the    State   and   its  people  to  this  gambling  institution  is  a 
subterfuge  and  a  lie. 

Well,  now,  gentlemen,  if  the  consequences  of  this  thing  oe  so  greai.  so 
injurious,  so  disastrous  to  you  and  yours,  if  indeed  I  am  right  in  my  propo- 
sition that  the  acceptance  of  the  Morris  proposition  is  a  sale  of  Louisiana's 
sovereignty,  and  the  consequent  erasure  of  this  bright  star  from  the  galaxy  of 
States;  if  that  be  so,  is  it  not  a  serious  question  for  all  of  us  to  consider? 
Don't  it  justify  us  in  coming  here  from  our  homes  spontaneously,  not  tor  the 
purpose  of  seeking  office — there  is  none  in  sight;  not  for  money,  for  the 
money  is  all  on  the  other  side — we  are  too  poor! 

Well,  then,  what  did  you  come  here  for?  You  came  here  to  prevent  this 
concern  from  selling  our  liberties,  from  destroying  the  statehood  of  our  good 
old  mother.  Why,  gentlemen,  I  love  the  State  of  my  adoption  as  I  do  the 
wife  of  my  bosom.  The  man,  sir,  that  is  not  true  to  Louisiana  in  her  distress 
is  not  worthy  of  being  called  her  son. 

I  may  use  strong  language.  I  have  no  feeling  of  enmity  against  any  one- 
Men  may  differ  with  me,  and  differ  from  me  honestly,  but  how  a  man  can 
differ  honestly  on  the  question  that  is  now  agitating  the  people  I  can  not  see. 
There  may  be  lottery  people  on  principle  and  there  may  be  lottery  people 
from  interest,  and  so  at  last  it  resolves  itself  into  a  matter  of  interest,  and 
principle  anyhow.  No  man  can  justify  it  on  moral  ground  or  any  other 
ground. 

One  more  thing  and  then  I  am  done.  All  through  this  agitation  I  will  call 
it,  for  it  has  been  a  one-sided  matter  all  along,  I  have  never  heard  a  man  yet 
assign  one  single  reason  or  excuse — for  I  draw  a  wide  distinction  between 
excuse  and  reason— for  his  support  of  this  lottery  proposition.  The  man  is 
not  living  that  can  give  a  reason  for  his  support  ot  this  lottery.  No;  it 
doesn't  exist. 

I  can  speak  for  the  people  of  the  hill  country  of  North  Louisiana,  and  I 
say  to-night  from  this  stand,  you  can  count  upon  forty-nine  fiftieths  of  the 
white  people  of  North  Louisiana.  There  is  no  necessity  of  going  out  there  to 
keep  the  ball  roiling.  These  papers  in  New  Orleans  are  criticising  us  for  agi- 
tating the  question.  "There  is  no  election  on  hand.  What  do  you  want  to  excite 
the  people  for  ?"  My  notion  is  just  this.  I  start  out  first  with  the  proposi- 
tion that  the  people  are  essentially  honest  ;  the  people  are  always  honest,  and 
if  they  are  made  to  see  the  danger  ahead  you  can  count  upon  their  doing  the 
right  thing  every  time.  That  is  the  basis  and  the  first  plank  in  the  Demo- 
cratic platform — that  the  American  people  are  essentially  honest.  My 
notion  is  that  the  people  ought  to  be  educated  up  to  the  dangers  that  are 
ahead,  and  when  you  once  put  them  into  possession  of  the  facts,  I  have  no 
fear  for  the  result. 

Why  did  those  papers  in  New  Orleans  say  we  were  enemies  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party  ?  I  never  proposed  to  fight  this  or  any  other  measure  outside 
of  the  Democracy.  I  believe  that  the  destiny  of  Louisiana  is  in  the  hands 
and  under  the  control  of  its  white  citizens,  and  the  white  citizens  of  Louis- 
iana constitute  the  Democratic  party.  Now,  Mr.  President,  my  notion  is  to 
go  among  the  people,  and  I  think  that  it  is  the  duty  of  every  man  to  educate 


•  41 

the  people,  to  agitate  the  subject,  so  that  these  people  will  noi  come  around 
under  one  guise  or  another  with  a  view  of  corrupting  the  honest  but  simple 
country  folks.  Show  them  their  danger.  That  is  the  clutv  of  the  hour.  I 
say  that  the  calling  of  this  Convention  was  a  supremely  wise  act,  and  I  say, 
Mr.  President,  further  that  the  patriotism  ot  the  sons  of  Louisiana,  exhibited 
in  this  Convention,  is  the  happiest  augury  of  the  age,  and  I  feel  certain  that 
the  effect  upon  the  people  who  are  trying  to  push  this  thing  through  upon 
the  people  of  the  State  will  be  that  they  must  of  necessity  abandon  the  race. 
Morris  has  not  money  enough  to  buy  Louisiana. 

[The  remarks  of  the  eloquent  speaker  were  frequently  greeted 
with  great  applause.] 

Mr  John  Dymond,  of  Plaquemmes,  said  there  was  a  prominent 
gentleman  connected  with  the  Farmers'  Union  of  the  State,- 

MR.  T.  j.  GUICE, 

of  De  Soto  Parish  present,  and  moved  that  he  be  invited  to  ad- 
dress the  Convention.  Carried. 

Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Convention — This  invitation  toad- 
dress  you  takes  me  a  little  by  surprise,  having  been  called  right  on  the  spur 
of  the  moment,  witoout  having  had  a  moment's  reflection  upon  the  subject, 
and  furthermore,  having  sat  and  listened  to  the  flood  of  eloquence  poured 
out  upon  this  audience  by  the  distinguished  gentlemen  who  have  addressed 
you  this  evening  and  the  number  of  resolutions  that  have  been  offered  and 
read  upon  this  subject. 

Hence  it  would  be  useless  for  me  to  add  anything;  more  to  what  has  al- 
ready been  said.  I  would  say,  however,  that  it  affords  me  no  slight  degree 
of  pleasure  to  present  to  you  the  attitude  of  the  Farmers'  Union  of  the  State 
with  reference  to  the  lottery  subject. 

Mr.  President,  as  the  State  lecturer  of  the  Farmers'  Union  of  the  State  of 
Louisiana  and  having  traveled  more  than  75,000  miles  in  connection  with 
this  work  in  the  past  year  or  two,  I  have  had  the  privilege  of  standing  up 
before  many  an  audience,  and  I  will  say  this  here,  that  I  have  never  failed  to 
fire  a  little  squib  at  least  at  this  monster  that  you  have  assembled  here  to- 
night to  inaugurate  a  campaign  against. 

Now,  gentlemen,  inasmuch  as  you  are  tired  and  it  is  growing  late,  I  do 
not  wish  to  tax  your  patience,  but  I  want  to  say  this,  that  we,  as  the  Farmers' 
Union,  claim  precedence  to  the  Anti-Lottery  League,  and  we  ask  the  Anti- 
Lottery  League  to  take  us  by  the  right  hand  and  we  will  lead  them  safely 
through  this  contest. 

One  year  ago  we  passed  resolutions  in  the  Farmers'  Union  denouncing 
the  lottery  in  the  strongest  terms.  They  were  published  to  the  world.  The 
parish  unions  indorsed  the  action  of  the  State  union,  and  the  subordinate 
branches  of  the  parish  unions  indorsed  the  action  of  the  parish  unions  and 
the  State  union;  and  I  want  to  say  here  that  every  member  of  the  Farmers' 
Union  engraved  those  resolutions  upon  his  heart,  and  to-day  you  may  rest 
assured  that  the  Farmers'  Union  will  stand  as  a  unit  when  it  comes  to  fight 
the  lottery. 


42 

I  want  to  say  just  here,  gentlemen — and  perhaps  many  of  you  are  not 
aware  of  this  fact — that  the  Farmers'  Union  have  means  and  methods  by 
which  it  is  educating  the  people.  We  recognize  the  fact  that  the  welfare  of 
our  people  rests  on  an  intelligent  exercise  of  the  right  of  ballot  We  are 
educating  our  people  up  to  that  degree  that  when  they  exercise  their  sov- 
ereign will  they  will  do  it  intelligently, and  every  intelligent  ballot  that  will  be 
cast  in  the  coining  ages  of  this  country  will  be  cast  against  every  institution 
that  has  a  semblance  like  the  Louisiana  State  Lottery  Company,  i  want  to 
say  to  you,  gentlemen,  that  the  Farmer's  Union  of  the  State  of  Louisiana 
have  pledged  themselves  to  their  wives,  to  their  children,  to  their  country 
and  to  their  God,  to  kill  this  monster  of  iniquity — the  Louisiana  State  Lot- 
tery Company. 

Now,  let  me  say  to  you,  gentlemen,  that  I  have  been  for  the  past  two 
months  traveling  in  the  overflowed  districts  of  the  State.  A  few  days  ago  I 
came  out  of  Pointe  Coupee  parish.  I  was  informed  while  there  that  three  or 
four,  or  may  be  five  weeks  ago,  there'  were  as  many  as  forty  lottery  men, 
pronounced  lottery  men,  in  that  locality,  but  when  I  left  there,  three  or  four 
days  ago,  owing  to  the  influence  that  had  been  brought  to  bear  upon  these 
gentlemen,  who  I  have  no  doubt  were  honest  in  their  opinions,  but  had  not 
been  thoroughly  informed  on  the  subject,  their  sentiments  had  undergone  a 
complete  change,  and  to-day  there  are  but  four  pronounced  lottery  men,  and 
when  the  year  1892  rolls  around  I  doubt  that  there  will  be  any  lottery  men 
left  in  that  parish. 

I  have  been  through  the  swamps  of  Catahoula  and  the  Ouachita  districts 
and  there  I  heard  it  coming  from  men  who  have  lost  their  all  pretty  nearly, 
with  no  prospects  for  a  crop  this  year,  that  they  all  to-day  stand  pledged 
against  the  lottery,  and  I  ask  in  the  name  of  God  where  can  the  lottery  ex- 
pect to  get  sympathy  much  less  support  under  the  circumstances,  and  I 
imagine  that  if  John  A.  Morris  and  company  could  look  over  this  intelligent 
audience,  representing  the  entire  interests  of  the  wealth  producers  and  all 
classes  of  this  great  State,  he  would  go  off  with  a  backache,  if  not  entirely 
paralyzed. 

Now,  gentlemen,  you  have  heard  a  great  deal  upon  this  subject  to-day, 
and  as  I  said  in  the  beginning  I  can  no"  add  |loo  much  to  what  has  be.  n 
already  said.  In  conclusion,  however,  I  want  to  say  this:  You  need  feel  no 
uneasiness  whatever  as  to  the  Farmers'  Union.  We  had  but  three  or  four 
deserters,  but  this  was  before  the  influence  was  sufficiently  strong,  and  those 
that  deserted  us  stand  denounced  to-day  by  the  Farmers'  Union  which  rep- 
resents 30,000  intelligent  citizens  of  the  State  of  Louisiana. 

Now,  as  the  State  lecturer  of  the  Farmers'  Union,  I  want  to  say  fo  you 
gentlemen  of  the  Anti-Lottery  League,  that  I  pledge  to  you  to-night  in  be- 
half of  the  Farmers'  Union  in  1892  fifty  thousand  farmers'  votes  against  the 
lottery  extension. 

The  remarks  of  the  speaker  were  warmly  applauded  through- 
out the  address. 


43 

Mr.  J.  C.  Wickliffe,  of  Orleans,  submitted  the  following  reso- 
lution, which  was  unanimously  adopted  : 

Whereas,  the  Lottery  Company  has,  through  the  columns  of  its  subsidized 
organs,  attacked  the  integrity  and  reputation  of  Francis  T.  Nicholls,  Gov- 
ernor of  Louisiana,  and  Edward  D.  White,  United  States  Senator-elect  ; 
which  attacks  were  inspired  by  trrilice,  hate  and  impotent  anger  ;  therefore 

Be  it  resolved,  That  this  Convention  expresses  its  unshaken  confidence  in 
the  stainless  honor  and  unblemished  integrity  of  these  two  noble  sons  of  a 
grateful  State. 

Cries  of 

"  WICKLIFFE  !     WICKLIFFE  !  " 

brought  this  gentleman  to  his  feet,  and  he  spoke  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Convention — I  hardly  know  -what  to 
say  to  you  in  response  to  this  most  flattering  call.  The  ground  has  been  so 
thoroughly  covered  by  the  eloquent  and  able  gentlemen  who  have  preceded 
me  that,  in  the  language  of  the  Times-Democrat  when  referring  to  Judge 
White  on  a  former  occasion,  I  fear  I  will  have  nothing  but  -well-ploughed 
ground  to  go  over,  and  I  only  wish  that  it  'lay  in  my  power  to  put 
through  that  well-ploughed  ground  such  a  deep  sub-soiler  as  that  gentleman 
.'an  through  that  paper,  its  schemes  and  its  masters. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Convention,  I  don't  know  how  to  fight  a  delicate  argu- 
mentative battle.  I  was  educated  to  do  my  fighting  with  a  club,  and  when 
you  fire  me  off  it  is  like  firing  off  a  cannon — you  can't  do  it  easy . 

Judge  White  said  to  you  this  evening  that  this  fight  reminded  him  of  a 
four-mile  horse  race.  It  reminds  me  not  of  a  four-mile  horse  race,  but  of  a 
quarter-mile  dash.  The  story  has-been  told  of  an  old  gentleman  who  went 
out  to  the  race  track  to  see  his  first  quarter-mile  race.  He  said  that  after 
sitting  on  a  hard  plank  in  the  hot  sun  for  four  mortal  hours  he  turned  his 
head  to  spit,  and  before  he  got  it  around  again  the  race  was  run,  won  and 
lost.  So  it  is,  gentlemen,  with  John  A.  Morris  and  his  unknown  associates 
who  are  either  ashamed  of  the  lottery  or  the  lottery  is  ashamed  of  them,  I 
don't  know  which. 

They  had  their  plan  all  cocked  and  primed  and  while  they  turned  their 
heads  to  spit,  before  they  could  get  them  back,  they  were  whipped  and 
whipped  clean  out  of  their  boots. 

There  is  a  lesson  that  I  have  learned  from  this  Convention  ;  and  it  is  in 
the  news  which  comes  to  me  from  every  quarter  of  the  State.  From  the 
hills  on  the  Arkansas  line  to  the  marshes  on  the  shore  of  the  Gulf,  from  the 
mighty  river  that  bounds  our  State  on  the  east  to  the  waters  of  the  Sabine 
on  the  west,  there  comes  a  mighty  roar  that  says  that  the  true  sons  of  this 
great  State,  who  have  never  failed  her  in  the  hour  of  danger,  will  bury  this 
lottery  under  an  avalanche  of  ballots  in  1892.  [Great  applause.] 

What  reasons  have  \ve  to  advance  against  the  acceptance  of  this  proposi- 
tion to  recharter  this  infamous  Lottery  Company  ?  Upon  what  grounds  do 
we  oppose  it  ?  There  are  three — the  moral,  the  political  and  the  economic 
grounds. 


44 

On  the  moral  ground,  fellow-citizens,  may  my  tongue  be  paralyzed  ere  it 
teaches  a  doctrine,  and  mav  my  arm  be  palsied  ere  it  deposits  in  the  box  a 
ballot  that  will  teach  my  children  to  unlearn  the  lesson  that  they  were  taught 
at  their  mother's  knee. 

On  the  political  question,  what  man  is  there  throughout  the  broad  expanse 
of  Louisiana  that  for  one  instant  will  dispute  the  fact  that  the  Lottery  Com- 
pany interferes  in  and  dominates  the  politics  of  the  State.  Why,  fellow- 
citizens,  after  a  lease  of  less  than  twenty-five  years  we  find  it  absolutely 
controlling  a  Legislature.  After  a  lease  of  twenty-five  years  we  find  it  with 
the  means  and  power  to  make  men  false  and  perjured  to  their  solemn  vows. 
After  a  lease  of  twenty-five  years  we  find  it  attacking,  through  the  columns 
of  a  subsidized  press,  the  acts  of  a  fearless  executive.  After  a  lease  of 
less  than  twenty-five  years  the  result  is  whispers  and  questions  to  know 
•whether  or  not  the  Lottery  Company  has  control  of  the  judiciarv.  Should 
they  succeed  in  extending  their  charter  twenty -five  years  beyond  the  present 
lease,  the  men  of  Louisiana  will  be  at  the  feet  of  this  merciless  monster  and 
ruled  by  the  most  powerful  of  all  governments — a  monied  oligarchy. 

Now,  on  the  economic  question.  What  economy  is  there  in  taking  $5  out 
of  vour  breeches  pocket,  and  putting  50  cents  back  in  your  vest  pocket  and 
throwing  $4.50  in  the  river?  [Laughter.]  Now,  that  is  exactly  the  propo- 
sition of  the  lottery  company.  It  says  to  the  State  of  Louisiana:  "  If  vou 
will  permit  me  take  away  from  your  people  $4,500,000  a  year  we  will  give 
you  back  $1,250,000  of  it."  If,  in  reality,  fellow-citizens,  the  Louisiana  Lottery 
Company  were  to  say,  "If  you  will  permit  me  to  take  $4,500,000  out  of  the 
State  treasury  and  we  will  put  $1,250,000  back,"  would  any  business  man 
declare  that  to  be  a  "  business  proposition  ?  "  I  think  not. 

Now  if  that  be  not  a  business  proposition,  tell  me  what  is  the  difference 
between  the  State  of  Louisiana  sending  SDut  its  tax  gatherers,  collecting  four 
millions  and  a  half  from  the  people,  putting  it  in  the  treasurv,  and  then  taking 
it  out  of  the  treasury  and  giving  it  to  Morris  &  Co.,  and  permitting  Morris 
&  Co.  to  send  out  their  tax  gatherers  and  collecting  four  and  a  half  millions 
directly  from  the  people. 

Is  there  any  difference  between  the  two  propositions?  Will  any  one  tell 
me  that  the  State  of  Louisiana  can  get  rich  by  accepting  such  a  "  business  " 
proposition?  No;  you  might  as  well  tell  me  that  a  man  can  lift  himself  over 
a  fence  by  pulling  on  the  straps  of  the  boots  on  his  own  feet. 

Now,  in  reference  to  one  matter  that  was  referred  to  by  the  gentleman 
who  has  so  eloquently  addressed  you  just  now.  He  referred  to  the  fact  that 
there  were  three  or  four  traitors  in  the  Farmers'  Union  in  this  fight.  Let  me 
remind  him  that  in  the  army  that  struggled  for  the  freedom  and  the  inde- 
pendence of  this  country  there  was  one  traitor;  and  even  among  the  twelve 
disciples  selected  by  the  Saviour  there  was  found  a  Judas  Iscariot,  and  be  it 
said  to  the  credit  of  the  farmers  of  the  State  of  Louisiana  that  out  of  thirty 
thousand  there  were  only  three  false  to  their  word. 

And  now,  fellow-citizens,  what  is  going  to  be  the  result  of  the  fight?  We 
find  on  the  one  hand  arrayed  the  Louisiana  Lottery  Company  with  its 
money;  on  the  other  side  we  find  arrayed  the  intelligence  and  manhood 
virtue  and  patriotism  of  the  State.  We  find  on  the  side  of  honor  the  business 


45 

man,  the  professional  man,  the  mechanic  and  the  laborer  standing  shoulder, 
to  shoulder  with  the  farmer.  We  find  the  united  churches  of  the  country 
opposing  this  iniquitous  and  infamous  gambling  concern.  We  find  the  move- 
ment to  crush  it  out  of  existence  supported  by  the  Fanner's  Union,  by  the 
Methodist  Church,  by  the  Baptist  Church,  by  the  Catholic  Church,  by  every 
church  that  has  an  organized  existence  in  the  State  of  Louisiana. 

Denunciations  are  thundered  at  it  from  the  forum  and  the  rostrum,  the 
platform  and  the  pulpit.  It  is  denounced  by  the  whole  country.  Against 
this  moral  iniquity  we  find  arrayed  not  only  the  political,  but  also  the  moral 
and  religious  sentiment  of  the  country.  This  lottery  proclaims  its  iniquity 
out  of  its  own  mouth.  It  has  condemned  itself.  It  boasts  that  it  makes 
Louisiana  an  accomplice  in  robbing  the  people  of  the  Union.  It  boasts  that  it 
brings  annually  to  the  City  of  New  Orleans  and  the  State  of  Louisiana 
millions  of  dollars.  Perhaps  it  does;  but,  fellow-citizens,  remember  what  Bill 
Nye  said  in  reference  to  the  railroads  that  went  to  California.  Said  he:  -'The 
railroads  running  to  California  boast  that  in  the  last  ten  years  they  have 
brought  fifty  millions  of  dollars  into  the  State  of  California.  This  is  true,  but 
they  forgot  to  divide  it  up  after  they  got  it  there."  [Laughter.]  And  so  it 
is  \vith  the  money  brought  into  the  State  of  Louisiana  by  the  lottery  com- 
pany. It  goes  into  the  pockets  of  a  few  men,  and  when  it  comes  out  it  goes 
to  build  a  twenty-dollar  dog  fountain  on  St.  Charles  avenue  in  the  City  of 
New  Orleans,  and  amillion-and  a-half-doll.ir  race  track  in  the  State  of  New 
York.  [Laughter  and  prolonged  applause.] 

The  great  heart  of  the  Louisiana  Lottery  Company  was  opened  in  charity 
when 

CHARITY    MEANT    BUSIXKSS. 

The  relief  boat  of  the  Louisiana  Sfate  Lottery  Company  was  sent  out  loaded 
with  lumber,  sacks  and  provisions,  to  return  freighted  with  a  new  charter. 

And,  fellow-citizens,  the  charity  offered  by  this  uncharitable  corporation 
for  the  purpose  of  buying  the  freedom  and  the  liberties  and  Statehood  of  the 
people  is  an  unpardonable  insult  to  the  people  to  whom  it  is  offered.  As 
well  might  the  libertine  claim  credit  for  offering  relief  to  the  distressed  when 
he  offers  a  starving  wroman  that  relief  as  the  price  of  her  virtue. 

This  Lottery  Company  now  feels  the  result  of  this  agitation.  Three 
months  ago,  when  this  fight  commenced,  its  stock,  of  the  par  value  of  $100  a 
share,  was  quoted  at  $1400  a  share.  On  yesterday  I  was  informed  by  a 
broker  in  the  City  of  New  Orleans  that  he  had  some  shares  for  sale  at  $7150, 
and  he  could  not  get  it.  The  Lottery,  fellow-citizens,  may  not  be  dead  yet, 
but  let  me  assure  you  that  it  is  seriously  sick. 

Now,  the  only  ground  that  it  has  to  stand  upon,  and  it  claims  but  one,  is 
the  ground  that  the  poverty  of  the  State  of  Louisiana  is  such  that  we,  as 
conservative  business  men,  should  accept  it.  Every  fact  and  figure  given 
you  by  your  sworn  officers — the  very  reports  made  by  the  men  who,  just 
across  that  rotunda,  voted  to  barter  away  the  honor  of  this  State — gives  the 
lie  to  these  claims.  I  ask  you,  men  of  Louisiana,  are  you  paupers  ?  [Cries 
of  Xo  !  No  !]  I  ask  you  will  you  enter  into  this  shameful  bargain  with  this 
leper  of  civilization,  this  pariah  of  morality,  this  outcast  of  society  ?  I  ask 
you  do  you  intend  to  support  your  State  by  the  earnings  of  honest  labor  and 


46 

by  taxation  imposed  for  the  honest  necessities  of  government,  or  are  you 
willing  to  become  a  partner  in  the  robbery  of  your  sister  States,  and  to  sup- 
port your  State  with  filthy  lucre  stolen  from  the  market  baskets  of  your 
neighbors  and  beguiled  out  of  the  pockets  of  n?gro  washerwomen  by  dream- 
books  ! 

The  Louisiana  State  Lottery  Company  has  made  the  issue.  John  A. 
Morris,  Albert  Baldwin,  P.  B.  S.  Pinchback  and  P.  F.  Herwig,  those  shin- 
ing lights  of  Louisiana  Democracy,  have  come  before  the  Democratic  party 
and  asked  for  treatment  according  to  their  deserts. 

Fellow-citizens,  all  I  ask  of  you  is  to  give  them  only  that  which  they  de- 
serve. They  have  invoked  a  trial  before  the  people  and  we  will  meet  them 
with  the  proof.  The  Louisiana  State  Lottery  Company  is  now  on  trial  and, 
fellow- citizens,  I  impeach  that  lottery  company  of  high  crimes  and  misde- 
meanors. I  impeach  it  in  the  names  of  the  legislators  that  in  the  past  it  has 
bribed.  I  impeach  it  in  the  name  of  the  people  of  the  commonwealths 
whom  it  boasts  of  robbing.  I  impeach  it  in  the  name  of  the  people  of  the 
South  to  which  it  is  a  burning  shame  and  disgrace.  I  impeach  it  in  the 
name  of  the  State  of  Louisiana,  whose  reputation  it  has  destroyed.  I  im- 
peach it  in  the  name  of  the  white  men  whom  it  has  debauched.  I  impeach 
it  in  the  name  of  the  negroes  whom  it  has  robbed.  I  impeach  it  in  the  name 
of  the  majesty  of  the  law  that  it  has  violated  and  defied;  and  finally,  I  im- 
peach it  in  the  name  of  the  great  God  of  truth,  justice,  morality,  religion  and 
honesty,  whose  laws  and  precepts  it  neither  knows  nor  heeds,  and  I  sum- 
mon it  to  the  bar  of  public  opinion  for  its  trial,  and  throw  myself  confidently 
upon  my  country  for  the  result. 

Mr.  Samuel  L.  Gilmore,  of  Orleans,  read  the  following  tele- 
gram which  created  much  merriment: 

NEW  ORLEANS,  August  7. — To  the  Chairman  of  the  Democratic  Conven- 
tion: The  advent  of  another  and,  a  bouncing  boy,  precludes  my  attendance 
I  am  in  full  accord  with  the  Convention,  believing  it  is  the  opening  of  a  cam- 
paign that  will  give  us  a  grand  victory  in  1892.  J.  H.  DUGGAN. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  John  Dymond,  of  Plaquemines,  the  Conven- 
tion adjourned  to  meet  to-morrow  morning  at  ten  o'clock. 


SECOND  DAY'S  SESSION. 

BATON  ROUGE,  August  S,  1890. 

Pursuant  to  adjournment  of  Thursday  the  Anti-Lottery  Conven- 
tion was  called  to  order  at  ten  o'clock  a.  m.,  President  Bell 
in  the  chair. 

The  President  instructed  the  Secretery  to  call  the  roll  of  vice 
presidents  in  order  to  correct  any  mistake  that  might  have  been 
made  in  the  names. 

The  Secretary  read  the  list,  and  corrections  were  made.  The 
list  as  corrected  is  as  follows  : 

VICE   PRESIDENTS. 

Acadia — Dr.  R.  R.  Lyons.  Orleans — 

Ascension — R.  McCall.  First  Ward — J.  R.  Con  way. 

Assumption — C.  Numa  Folse.  Second — Jerry  Lyons. 

Avoyelles — Hon.  A.  .B.  Irion.  Third — M.  J.  Long. 

BienVille — F.  G.  Hulse.  Fourth — M.  J.  Lehman. 

Bossier — J.  A.   Snyder.  Fifth — J.  Israel. 

Caddo— N.  Gregg.  Sixth— O.  W.  Long. 

Calcasieu — Gabriel  A.  Fournet.        Seventh — Rev.  F.  Koehle. 
Cameron— J.  H.  Doxey.  Eighth— T.  O'Brien. 

Catahoula — M.  D.  N.Thompson.      Ninth — R.  L.  Schroeder. 
Claiborne — Hon.  J.  R.  Phipps.         Tenth — Hon.  Euclid  Borland, 
DeSoto — Wm.  Goss.  Eleventh — A.  A.   Woods. 

East  Feliciana— Dr.  D.  W.  Pipes      Twelfth— Hon.  H.C.  Miller. 
East  Baton  Rouge— W.  G.  Sam-      Thirteenth— E.  R.  Chevalley. 
uels.  Fourteenth — Hon.J  H  Duggan 

East  Carroll — Peter  Mathison.          Fifteenth — Thos.  E.  Higgins. 
Franklin —  A.  Sanders.  Sixteenth  and  Seventeenth — 

Grant — B.  C.  Dean.  Dr.  S.  L.  Henry. 

Iberia— J.  A.  Fargo.  Ouachita — F.  P.  Stubbs. 

Iberville — J.  F.  David.  Plaquemines — John  Dymond. 

Jackson — Hon.J.  T.  M.  Hancock..  Pointe  Coupee —  D.  T.  Merrick 
Lafayette — Hon.  Overton    Cade.  Rapides — Hon.  G.  W.  Bolton. 
Lafourche — Judge  J.  M.  Howell.  Red  River — Jas.  F.  Pierson. 
Lincoln — G.  M  Lornax.  Richland — Hon.  H.  P.  Wells. 

Livingston — John  D.  Easterley.    Sabine — L.   Barbe. 
Madison — G.  L.  Boney.  St.  Bernard — H.  T.  Lawler. 

Morehouse — N.  W.Johnson.        St.  Helena — Hon.  M.  A.  Strick- 
Natchitoches — M.  H.   Carver.          land.  47 


48 

St.  James — H.  Himel.  Vermilion — H,  Powers. 

St.  Landry — \V.  F.  Clopton.         Vernon — Hon.Jno.  Franklin. 
St.  Mary — L.  S.  Allemon.  Washington — W.  L.  Smith. 

St.  Tammany — George  H.  Goss  Webster — J.  T.  Watkins. 

and  vS.  H.  Decker.  West    Baton    Rouge  — Hon.  A. 

Tangipahoa — Hon.  O.  P.  Amac-      Levert. 

ker.  West  Carroll — Hon.  H.  R.  Lott. 

Terrebonne — Ennis   Williams.      West  Feliciar.a — W.  W.   Leake. 
Union — Hon    W.  W.  Heard.        Winn — Hon.  J.  M.  McCain. 

Mr.  Cade,  of  Lafayette,  moved  that  a  committee  of  one  dele, 
gate  from  each  Parish  of  the  State  and  each  ward  of  the  City  of 
New  Orleans  be  appointed  to  take  action  in  regard  to 

THE    NEW    DELTA, 

in  accordance  .with  the  resolution  passed  on  yesterday. 

Colonel  F.  C.  Zacharie,  of  Orleans,  spoke  in  favor  of  the 
motion,  saying  that  it  was  important  that  the  list  should  be  com- 
pleted, in  order  that  the  committee  might  accomplish  their  mis- 
sion or  put  themselves  in  communication  with  the  managers  of 
the  New  Delta  before  the  Convention  adjourned. 

The  motion  was  adopted  and  the  roll  by  parishes  was  called, 
and  the  following  names  were  sent  up  and  placed  on  the  list  as 
such  committee. 

E.  N.  Pugh,  of  Ascension,  stated  that,  on  behalf  of  his  Parish, 
he  desired  to  head  the  list  with  a  subscription  of  $5000  : 

Acadia — W.  S.  Evans.  Lafayette — Wm.  Clegg. 

Ascension — Richard  McCall.       Lafourche — -Prosper  R.  Tupes. 
Assumption — J.  E.  Pujol.  Lincoln — J.  M.  Lincoln. 

Bienville — Thomas  Petty.  Livingston — R.  J.  Ga^es. 

Bossier — B.  A.  Kelly.  Madison — H.  R.  Holmes. 

Caddo — N.  Gregg.  Morehouse — C.  Newton. 

Calcasieu — John  G.  Gray.  Natchitoches — M.  L.  Dismukes. 

Cameron — J.,M.  Wells.  Orleans — 

Catahoula — B.  F.  Hewes.  First  Ward — R.W.  Longshaw 

Claiborne — C.  M.  McLaurin.  Second — Hugh  Flvnn. 

DeSoto— Wm.  Goss.  Third— W.  H.  Byrnes. 

East  Feliciana — R.  B.  Kennedy.     Fourth— W.  \V.  Carre. 
East  Baton  Rouge — J.  C.  Gayle.       Fifth — Aug.  Doussan. 
East  Carroll— John  A.  Buckner.      Sixth— V.  J.  Botte. 
Grant — G.  W.  Bruce.  Seventh — E.  L.  Cope. 

Iberia— Robert  F.  Broussard.  Eighth— W.  G.  T.  Carver. 

Iherville — Joseph  E.  Grace.  Ninth — Wm.  Hellman. 

Jackson— W.  R.  Womack.  Tenth— A.  E.  Morphy. 


49 

Orleans —  St.  Landry — S.  G.  Wilson. 

Eleventh — A.  J.  Qiiina.  St.  Martin — Robt.  Martin. 

Twelfth— Robert  H.  Marr,  Jr.  St.  Tammany^-Ben   Rogers,   J, 
Thirteenth — Edward  Gauche.        H.  Murphy  and  J.  H.  Decker 
Fourteenth—  E.T.Merrick,  Jr.Tangipahoa — F.  P.  Mix, 
Fifteenth — Frank  Daniels.        Tensas — Lucian  Bland. 
Sixteenth — A.  G.  Gerry.  Terrebonne — Wm.  McCollom. 

Seventeenth — R.  H.  Lea.          Union — M.  D.  Munholland. 

Ouachita— F.  P.  Stubbs.  Vermilion— M.  I.  Gordy. 

Plaquemines — Robert  Espy.         Vernon — R.  B.  Payne. 

Pointe  Coupee — Alb.  Provosty.  Washington — G.  M.  Burris. 

Rapides— J.  G.  White.  Webster— J.  M.  Miller. 

Red  River— S.  A.  Hall.  West  Baton  Rouge — T.Kirkland 

Sabine— John  E.  Bullett.  West  Carroll— H.  J.  Cheatham. 

St.  Bernard— R.  H.  Dillon.  West  Feliciana— B.  Harolson. 

St.  Helena— A.  N.  Brown.  Winn — H.  L.  Brant 

St.  James — W.  B.  Cognolatti. 

While  the  roll  by  parishes  was  being  called  the  President  in- 
formed the  Convention  that  he  was  admonished  that  he  had  not 
time  to  stay  with  the  Convention  until  its  adjournment,  the  train 
for  his  home  being  about  to  leave.  He  said  that  he  never  dis- 
liked to  leave  a  convention  so  much  in  his  life  ;  that  he  had  but  a 
few  words  to  say  and  he  would  then  call  one  of  the  vice  presi- 
dents to  the  chair  to  continue  the  business  of  the  Convention. 

"  In  bidding  you  good-bye  I  wish  to  say  that  I  hope  you  will 
carry  with  you  to  your  homes  and  keep  freshly  burning  the  flame 
of  enthusiasm  which  has  been  kindled  by  mutual  contact  here, 
and  if  your  iron  is  hot,  strike  it  while  it  is  hot,  and  if  it  is  not  hot 
keep  striking  it  until  you  make  it  hot." 

The  President  then  called  Vice  President  Murphy  J.  Foster 
to  the  chair. 

COLONEL     J.    M,    HOLLINGSWORTH,     OF     CADDO, 

moved  a  further  suspension  of  the  calling  of  the  roll  in  order  that 
he  might  offer  a  resolution,  and  he  requested  that  Mr.  Bolton,  of 
Rapides,  read  the  resolution. 

Mr.  Bolton  read  the  resolution,  which  was  greeted  with  ap- 
plause and  unanimously  adopted  by  a  rising  vote.  It  read  as 
follows  : 

Resolved,  That  we  invite  public  discussion  of  the  lottery  question  with 
those  of  our  fellow-citizens  who  are  its  advocates;  that  we  promise  them  to 


50 

grant  them  a  calm  and  dispassionate  hearing,  and  to  avoid  irritating  person- 
alities; but  we  do  most  solemnly  warn  the  lottery  company,  John  A.  Morris 
and  his  hirelings  that  we  shall  not  permit  this  to  be  a  boodle  campaign,  and 
that  all  distributors  t>f  money  who  make  appearance  in  any  part  of  this 
State  will  meet  with  the  punishment  they  deserve. 

Mr.  Samuel  L.  Gilmore,  of  Orleans,  moved  that  before  the  per- 
manent chairman,  Mr.  Bell,  leaves  the  hall,  the  Convention  adopt 
by  a  rising  vote  a  resolution  of  thanks  for  the  able  and  impartial 
manner  in  which  he  has  presided  over  the  deliberations  of  this 
body. 

The  motion  was  unanimously  adopted,  amidst  great  cheering 
by  a  rising  vote,  Mr.  Samuel  L.  Gilmore  having  offered  three 
cheers  for  the  distinguished  gentleman  as  the  Convention  rose  to 
its  feet. 

Colonel  Zacharie,  of  Orleans,  moved  that  the  gentlemen  first 
named  upon  the  committee  do  now  retire  to  the  Senate  chamber 
for  the  purpose  of  meeting  in  conference  the  representatives  of 
the  New  Delta.  Carried. 

It  was  moved  that  the  Secretary,  since  the  parish  of  St.  Martin 
has  organized,  communicate  with  that  parish  and  have  name 
forwarded  for  appointment  on  the  committee.  Carried. 

State  Senator  Lott  presented  and  moved  the  concurrence  of 
the  Convention  in  the  following  resolutions  which  had  been 

adopted  by  the 

FARMERS'  UNION: 

Whereas,  the  anti-lottery  cause  has  excited  the  attention  and  received  the 
hearty  support  and  defense  of  the  women  of  Louisiana;  therefore,  be  it 

Resolved,  That  we,  the  Farmers'  State  Union  of  Louisiana,  extend  our 
sincere  thanks  to  the  good  women  of  our  country  who  have  so  zealously  and 
fearlessly  rendered  their  assistance  and  counsel  in  behalf  of  the  anti-lottery 
cause,  feeling  that  through  their  influence  we  have  the  key  to  the  proper 
moral  training  of  the  youth  of  our  country  to  effect  the  suppression  of  this 
monstrous  evil. 

Resolved  further,  That  we  respectfully  request  the  concurrence  of  the 
Anti-Lottery  League,  of  Louisiana,  now  in  convention  assembled  at  Baton 
Rouge,  with  the  above  resolution. 

The  resolution  was  concurred  in  by  a  unanimous  rising  vote. 

Mr.  G.  W.  Bolton,  of  Rapides  then  said  : 

"  Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Convention,  there  is  one  very  im- 
portant thing  which  should  receive  our  attention.  We  understand  very  well 
that  we  have  before  us  the  longest  and  possibly  the  hardest  of  struggles  that 
the  people  of  this  State  have  ever  undertaken.  We  also  understand  that  this 


Convention  has  met  here  for  the  purpose  of  organizing  for  this  struggle  and 
this  fight  which  we  have  entered  upon,  and  intend  to  prosecute  to  the  end; 
but  it  is  well  known  that  until  an  organization  is  effected,  and  until  some 
means  have  been  adopted  by  which  to  raise  money  for  the  purpose  of  defray- 
ing expenses,  our  pro  >ress  will  be  slow.  We  have^io  money  as  yet.  We 
have  no  lottery  to  draw  upon  and  don't  want  any.  One  of  the  best  docu- 
ments which  we  can  place  in  the  hands  of  the  people  of  the  State  of  Louisiana 
will  be  the  proceedings  of  this  Convention  if  they  can  be  gotten  up  and  pub- 
lished in  pamphlet  form  and  distributed  in  every  home  in. the  State.  In 
order,  therefor?,  that  this  may  be  done,  I  will  novv  move  that  each  delegation 
upon  this  floor  be  requested  to  hand  in  the  sum  ot  $i,  or  more,  into  the  hands 
of  the  Secretary  of  the  Convention,  Mr.  George  W.  Young,  who  is  also  the 
Secretary  of  the  Anti-Lottery  League." 

The  motion  was  unanimously  adopted. 

The  Vice  President  stated  that  he  was  requested  by  the 
President  to  hand  down  the  following  as 

THE    EXECUTIVE    COMMITTEE 

appointed  by  him  : 

Col.  W.  G.  Vincent,  Orleans.  J.  M.  Kennedy,  East  Carroll. 

Charles  Parlange,  Orleans.  Louis  Bush,  Orleans. 

F.  P.  Stubbs,  Ouachita.  John  C.  Wickliffe,  Orleans. 

Price,  Lincoln.  S.G.  Laycock,  EastBaton  Rouge. 

T.  C.  W.  Ellis,  Orleans.  Chas.  Kilbourne,  East  Feliciana. 

Branch  M.  King.  Orleans.  W.  L.  Doss,  Morehouse. 

C.  V.  Porter,  Natchitoches.  J.  H.  Shepherd,  Caddo. 

J.  F.  Pierson,  Red  River.  Frank  McGloin,  Orleans. 

John  C.  Vance,  Bossier.  J.  D.  Hill,  Orleans. 

R.  L.  Tannehill,  Winn.  John  Delaney,  Orleans. 

T. -A.  Clayton,  Orleans.  Murphy  J.  Foster,  St.  Mary. 

Hugh  McManus,  Orleans.  A.  L.  Ponder,  Sabine. 

John  Dymond,  Plaquemines.  C.  Harrison  Parker,  Orleans. 
Ernest  B.  Kruttschnitt,  Orleans. G.  W.  Bolton,  Rapides. 

F.  C.  Zacharie,  Orleans. 

Judge  E.  D.  White  moved  that  Hon.  Charles  Parlange  address 
the  Convention  in  French. 

The  motion  was  adopted  by  a  unanimous  vote. 
The  Chair  introduced  the 

HON.    CHARLES     PARLANGE 

to  the  Convention. 

Mr.  Parlange  spoke  in  the  French  language.  The  following 
'.>  a  translation  : 

Mi.  President  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Convention — While  French  is  my 
mother  tongue  and  is  the  only  language  of  my  childhood,  I  have  had  but 
little  experience  of  its  use  for  public  speaking,  and  this  gratifying  request  of 
the  Convention  that  I  should  address  it  in  French  takes  me  by  surprise.  But 


52 

it  requires  no  preparation  to  say  that  from  all  parts  of  :he  commonwealth, 
from  far  and  near,  we  have  gathered  to  this  spot  as  the  representatives  of  the 
white  Democrats  of  the%tate  who  are  determined  that  Louisiana  shall  not 
be  sold  to  a  gambling  concern,  and  that  the  priceless  heritage  of  freedom,  or 
glory  and  honor,  transmitted  down  to  us  from  the  founders  of  the  country, 
shall  be  preserved  inviolate  in  the  hands  of  this  generation  of  Louisianians. 
Remember  that 

THE    TREMENDOUS    STRUGGLE 

upon  which  we  have  entered  is  not  for  ourselves  alone,  since  many  of  us  must 
have  passed  off  the  stage  of  life  forever  within  the  next  quarter  of  a  century* 
but  it  is  also  for  our  children,  that  they  may  not  be  branded  as  political  serfs 
and  segregated  from  the  great  body  of  American  freemen.  In  that  struggle 
is  also  bound  up  the  memory  of  all  the  good  and  great  men  who  now  sleep 
the  sleep  that  knows  no  waking,  and  who,  during  all  of  their  lifetime,  labored 
and  strove,  in  peace  and  war,  that  Louisiana  might  be  a  proud  common- 
wealth, and  who  beheld  her  the  honorable  mother  of  honorable  sons. 

Remember  that  we  are  now  struggling  for  the  preservation  of  that  funda- 
mental principle  of  untrammeled  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people 
and  for  the  people,  upon  which  the  American  States  were  built  up;  and  that 
the  question  is  now  put  squarely  to  the  people  of  this  State  :  Are  you  will 
ling  for  a  sum  of  money  to  sell  your  proud  privilege  of  being  j'our  own 
masters,  to  half  a  dozen  men  of  whom  only  one  has  the  courage  to  confess 
his  name?  Ah!  Bear  in  mind  that  no  State  of  the  American  Union  has 
had  so  much  at  stake  as  Louisiana  has  to-day,  since  the  cannon-roar  of 
Sumter  shook  this  continent.  Let  this  appalling  thought  be  uppermost  in 
the  minds  of  the  people  all  the  time,  and  let  them  not  allow  themselves  to  be 
turned  away  from  its  contemplation  by  any  side  issue  or  by  any  artifice  or 
stratagem  of  the  enemy.  I  am  convinced  that 

THE    PEOPLE    HAVE    AWAKENED 

to  the  full  consciousness  of  their  peril  and  that  every  liberty-loving  Louis  - 
ianian  realizes  that  a  great  public  danger  is  impending  over  us  like  a 
thunder  cloud,  and  he  will  exert  all  the  courage  and  strength  and  manhood 
which  God  has  given  him  to  avert  it. 

We  cannot  be  deceived  into  believing  that  there  is  any  pos=ible  scheme 
consistent  with  the  essentials  of  American  government  and  with  the  organic 
law  of  the  land  by  which  the  lottery  can  be  placed  beyond  the  necessity  of 
struggling  to  control  our  politics.  We  fully  understand  that  the  power  does 
not  exist  which  could  make  an  unrepealable  pact  with  the  lottery.  We  know 
— and  the  lottery  knows— that  the  danger  of  repeal  must  hang  over  its  head 
as  long  as  it  exists  and  that  when  it  drew  its  first  breath  of  corporate  life,  it 
was  condemned  to  unceasing  struggle.  We  all  know  that  in  order  to  live — 
whether  its  life  be  the  result  of  a  simple  act  of  the  Legislature  or  of  a  consti- 
tutional amendment — its  one  aim  must  be  to  control  and  own  the  govern- 
ment, which  may  at  any  time  turn  upon  it  and  destroy  it,  Le  it  never  so 
strongly  intrenched,  never  so  warily  guarded  against  attack. 

Nor  can  they  deceive  us  into  believing  that  Louisiana  has  been  stricken 
with  such 


53 

SUDDEN    AND    INEXPLICABLE    POVERTY, 

that  she,  once  so  proud,  must  humbly  bend  at  the  fe£t  of  a  lottery  company 
and  piteously  beg  a  morsel  of  bread  wherewith  to  eK.e  out  a  miserable  exist- 
ence. 

Even  if  necessity jwere  an  excuse  for  the  forfeiture  of  honor,  Louisiana  does 
not  need  the  gamblers'  alms,  and  she  can  and  will  maintain  at  all  hazards 
her  sovereign  station  in  the  sisterhood  of  States.  The  Providence  which 
rules  over  the  destinies  of  States  has  bestowed  upon  Louisiana  the  fairest  gifts 
of  climate  and  scenery  ;  a  soil  inexhaustably  fertile,  capable  of  producing  in 
abundance  and  to  perfection  every- staple  known  to  American  agriculture; 
a  thousand  industrial  resources  and  possibilities  and  the  grandest  commer- 
cial position  in  the  geography  of  the  world — the  gateway  of  the  Mississippi. 
Can  it  be  that  such  a  State,  inhabited  by  such  a  people  as  ours,  is  the  pauper 
of  the  Union,  and  can  she  be  reduced  to  the  shameful  compulsion  of  becom- 
ing the  ignoble  mate  of  public  vice  ? 

We  know  it  is  not  true.  And  if  it  were,  we  should  be  the  last  men  on 
earth  so  spiritless,  so  lost  to  every  sense  of  honor;  as  to  admit  it.  We  know 
that  Louisiana  is  on  the 

HIGH    ROAD   TO    PUBLIC    FORTUNE. 

If  all  other  proof  had  failed,  we  could  show  it  by  the  former  utterances  of  the 
very  newspapers  that  are  now  engaged  in  the  task  of  advertising  to  the  world 
Louisiana's  abject  poverty  and  hopeless  degradation.  We  know  that  to- 
morrow must  see  her  clothed  in  the  resplendent  habiliments  of  prosperity, 
and  that  the  day  is  dawning  whose  sun  must  shine  down  upon  greater  splen- 
dors than  Louisiana  has  ever  known. 

Never  since  the  war  have  the  finances  of  our  State  been  in  so  prosperous 
a  condition  as  they  are  now.  The  proposition  is  too  plain  for  argument.  In 
1879  on  the  morrow  of  the  disasters  of  reconstruction,  during  which  our 
State  credit  perished,  our  State  debt  accumulated  mountain  high,  our  levees 
vanished,  all  of  our  public  institutions  were  brought  to  the  verge  of  absolute 
annihilation — in  1879,  with  an  assessment  of  $177,000,000  and  a  public  revenue 
of  a  little  over  a  million,  the  brave  people  of  Louisiana  wiped  out  the  Radical 
Constitution  of  1868  and  ordained  their  own  organic  law. 

TO-DAY    SEES    LOUISIANA 

with  an  assessed  wealth  of  $226,000,000,  and  a  public  revenue  of  over  $2,000,- 
ooo,  with  an  increase  of  population  of  over  250,000  souls,  with  an  immense 
augmentation  in  the  sum  total  of  the  price  of  crops,  with  a  mileage  of  rail- 
roads nearly  threefold  that  of  1879,  and  with  the  industrial  products  amount- 
ing to  many  millions  of  dollars  yearly.  If  Louisiana  has  thriven  so  wonderfully 
in  the  last  ten  years,  if  she  has  made  such  amazing  progress,  starting  out  in 
the  world  with  nothing  but  the  remnants  of  her  shattered  fortune,  what  in- 
telligent man  can  be  made  to  patiently  listen  to  the  argument  that  the  Louisi- 
ana of  to-day  cannot  carry  on  her  government  without  a  tithe  of  the  profits  of 
a  gambling  business  ?  Look  then  at  our  sister  States,  many  of  them  less 
drosperous  than  Louisiana,  none  more  highly  blessed  of  Providence.  They 


54 

»11  carry  on  their  work  without  the  tainted  aid  of  gambling  gains.    And  shall 
we  say  that  Louisiana  is  less  strong  than  they  ? 
And 

WHAT    ABOUT    OUR    LEVEES? 

Stopping  at  nothing  to  accomplish  its  purpose,  the  lottery  seized  upon  the 
occasion  of  the  dire  distress  of  our  people  in  the  alluvial  country — to  whom 
levees  are  the  only  barriers  against  the  destruction  of  their  all — to  excite  in 
their  minds  the  fear  that  the  State  would  be  unable  to  protect  her  lowlands. 
Where  was  the  lottery  during  all  the  overflows  of  the  past  ?  Where  -was  it 
in  1874,  in  1882,  in  1884.  when  my  parish  sunk  out  of  sight  beneath  the  flood  ? 
Where  was  the  lottery  during  those  years  of  suffering  and  distress  when  the 
Federal  Government  and  the  State  and  the  bounty  of  thousands  of  the  com- 
paratively poor,  in  this  State  and  throughout  the  Union,  came  to  our  rescue? 
All  I  own  in  the  world  is  behind  levees  and  I  know  whereof  I  speak.  We 
do  not  need  the  lottery's  money  for  our  levees.  On  the  contrary,  let  us  shun 
it  as  we  would  a  pestilence.  Let  us  not  dry  up  the  source  «f  Federal  assist- 
ance to  our  levees.  Even  from  a  base  and  vile  standpoint,  let  us  not  .throw 
away  the  millions  of  Congress  for  the  thousands  of  the  lottery.  I  am  mis- 
taken, indeed,  if  we  can  have  both.  My  judgment  is  worthless  if  we  can  hope 
to  receive  help  from  the  Nation  after  we  have  perpetuated  the  life  of  this  in- 
iquity on  the  distinct  ground  that  it  is  to  prey  and  fatten  upon  the  Nation. 
In  point  of  fact,  we  are  fully  able  to  rebuild  all  the  broken  levess  and  to 
strengthen  all  the  weak  ones.  No  man  lives  who  can  remember  such  a 
flood  as  that  of  1890,  and  yet  every  one  who  has  given  *he  subject  thought 
knows  that  we  have  fewer  miles  of  crevasses  than  we  ever  had  after  any 
flood. 

IT    I       NOT    TRUE    THAT    THE    OPPOSITION 

iO    the   lottery     monopolists      »s    nothing     ......    sentiment.     But     even  if  it 

were  so,  do  we  not  know  that  life  would  be  worthless  without  sentiment ; 
that  natural  life,  State  existence,  societv  and  the  home  circle  would  be  im- 
possible without  it  and  man  would  be  reduced  to  the  level  of  the  beast  ?  Bu; 
there  are  many  most  practical  reasons  why  we  should  oppose  them  always* 
We  should  oppose  them  because  this  is  an  attempt  to  amend  our  government 
into  a  star  chamber  plutocracy  of  half  a  dozen  unnamed  men  ;  because  their 
accumulated  millions,  in  a  State  in  which  large  individual  fortunes  are  few, 
will  make  them  all-powerful  and  irresistible  in  business  as  well  as  in  poli- 
tics. They  will  make  and  unmake  banks  and  control  all  avenues  of  commerce 
and  tiade  at  their  will.  We  must  oppose  them  because  we  are  convinced 
that  the  prosperity  of  Louisiana  and  of  the  whole  South  depends  on  the 
supremacy  of  the  white  over  the  black  race,  and  we  know  that  no  negro  law- 
maker has  ever  voted  against  the  lottery,  a.nd  that  their  gigantic  interests 
must  compel  them,  whenever  the  exigency  may  require,  to  postpone  all 
racial  considerations  to  their  own  welfare.  We  must  oppose  them  be- 
cause good  government  is  impossible  with  such  a  powerful  demoralizer  in 
our  midst,  and  it  is  plain  that  without  good  government  a  people  cannot 
prosper  materially  or  otherwise.  Me  must  oppose  them  because 


55 

LOTTERIES    ARE    DESTROYERS    OF    PUBLIC    RICHES, 

and  if  persisted  in  will  annihilate  the  capacity  of  the  people  for  work  which 
is  the  only  true  source  of  wealth.  We  should  oppose  them  because  a  good 
reputation  is  pecuniarily  valuable  to  a  man  in  his  dealings  with  others,  and 
such  a  reputation  has  a  money  value  to  a  community  as  well.  The  loss  of 
business  and  money  which  would  inevitably  result  to  this  State  from  our 
delving  the  sentiment  of  this  Nation,  and  proclaiming  that  we  are  a  people 
without  public  morality,  would  be  incalculably  greater  than  any  sum  the 
lottery  company  could  pay. 

But  I  have  no  fear  that  such  a  calamity  as  the  fastening  upon  us  of  a 
gambling  oligarchy  will  ever  befall  us.  The  people  a,e  aroused  and  deter- 
mined, with  a  determination  as  strong  as  death,  that  it  shall  not  be. 

OUR    CAUSE    IS    INVINCIBLE 

and  the  victory  must  be  ours.  The  fiery  symbols  prophetic  of  their  destruc- 
tion have  appeared  upon  the  wails  of  their  banquet  hall,  but  in  the  intoxica- 
tion of  their  wealth  and  power  they  reck  them  not.  It  is  my  conviction  that 
before  1892,  the  storm  of  Louisiana's  indignation  and  the  wrath  of -the 
American  nation  will  sweep  every  vestige  of  their  existence  into  nothingness. 
Then  Louisiana  will  be,  as  she  was  of  old,  free,  proud,  prosperous  and 
happy.  Then  we  will  know  that  the  men  who  died  for  Louisiana,  who  for 
her  sake  poured  out  thei"  ^.carts'  blood  upon  a  hundred  bat  le-fields — did  not 
die  in  vain.  From  their  warrior  graves  they  will  cry  out  to  us  :  "Louisian- 
ians  !  Our  sons  !  Our  brothers  !  Worthy  heirs  of  our  virtues  !  You  have 
kept  intact  that  which  in  the  storm  of  battle  we  died  to  save — the  glory  and 
the  honor  of  the  name  of  Louisiana."  Then  shall  every  true  Louisianian 
bend  to  his  task  with  vigor  renewed  and  putting  his  shoulder  to  the  wheel,do 
a  man's  part  in  helping  to  propel  our  State's  triumphal  car  along  the  high 
road  of  progress.  And  then  we  shall  be  allowed  to  live  out  the  years  which 
God  has  allotted  to  us,  without  shackles  on  our  wrists,  and  dying,  we  shall 
leave  behind  us  a  free  posterity. 

Cries  of  "Avery  !"  "A very  !"  from  all  parts  of  the  hali. 

The  chair  here  stated  that  it  would  announce  before  any  fur- 
ther proceedings  that  it  was  all  important  that  the  executive 
committee  just  appointed  should  have  a  session  at  once,  and  that 
at  the  request  of  some  of  the  members  the  committee  would  meet 
immediately  in  the  speaker's  room.  "This  is  a  very  important 
matter,  and  I  trust  that  the  committee  will  meet  before  they  leave 
here  to-day  in  order  to  map  out  this  campaign." 

It  was  moved  that  the  Anti-Lottery  League  be  requested  to 
publish  the  speech  of  Hon.  Chns.  Parlange  in  English  as  well 
as  French,  and  that  it  be  circulated  broadcast  over  the  State. 

Mr.  McGloin,  of  Orleans,  said  that  he  was  really  sorry  that 
every  gentlemen  upon  the  floor  did  not  understand  French  in 


56 

order  to  have  appreciated  the  burning  eloquence  of  Mr.  Par- 
lange,  and  that  he  heartily  indorsed  the  proposition  to  have  the 
speech  rendered  into  English  and  circulated  in  both  languages. 
It  was  a  masterpiece  ;  it  was  a  gem." 

The  motion  was*  unanimously  adopted. 

Mr.  Bolton,  of  Rapides,  moved  that  the  Executive  Committee 
take  the  necessary  steps  to  have  10,000  copies  of  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  convention  printed  in  pamphlet  form  and  send  them 
to  each  and  every  parish  of  the  State. 

Mr.  Perry,  of  Iberia,  said:  "Mr.  President,  I  come  from  a 
section  of  the  State  where  a  large  number  of  inhabitants  un- 
derstand only  the  French  language,  and  I  therefore  offer  an 
amendment  to  the  motion  made  by  Mr.  Bolton  that  these  pam- 
phlets, covering  the  proceedings  of  this  convention,  be  published 
likewise  in  French." 

The  motion  as  amended  was  adopted,  with  the  understanding 
that  the  committee  use  its  own  judgment  as  to  the  number  of 
French  copies  to  be  published. 

Cries  of  "Avery  !"  "Avery  !" 

HON.  J.    M.    AVERY 

spoke  from  the  rostrum  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President  and  Fellow  Democrats — It  is  with  a  sense  of  deeply-felt 
gratitude  that  I  respond  to  the  call  to  address  such  an  intelligent  assembly 
as  meets  here  to-day  in  behalf  of  the  cause  of  Louisiana. 

It  has  been  my  good  fortune  to  attend  nearly  every  political  convention 
that  has  assembled  in  Baton  Rouge  since  the  war,  and  I  am  proud  of  the 
honor  of  being  a  member  of  this  one,  from  the  fact  that  it  is  the  finest  body 
of  men  that  my  eyes  ever  rested  upon.  [Applause.] 

I  rejoice,  fellow-citizens,  to  see  here  the  true  element  of  God's  nobility — 
the  farmer  ;  he  who  makes  the  true  foundation  and  rears  the  true  super- 
structure of  society  and  States  ;  he  who  contro.s  the  destinies  of  States  and 
nations  with  the  ploughshare,  guiding  it  with  his  honest  hands,  [applause] 
and  when  I  see  those  honest  farmers  around,  when  I  see  them  coining  for- 
ward with  such  unanimity,  I  feel  that  'they  are  irresistible,  and  that  any 
cause  attempting  to  stand  against  them  must  inevitably  fall.  [Applause.] 

You  have  heard,  my  fellow-citizens,  so  many  eloquent  speeches  upon  this 
Lottery  question  that  I  am  unable  to  touch  upon  any  point  that  has  not  al- 
readv  been  presented.  But  if  you  will  notice,  if  you  will  mark  it  well,  the 
subject  that  is  nearest  to  the  hearts  of  the  people  and  appeals  most-to  their 
attention  is  that  one  which  the  Lottery  advocates*  always  put  far  in  the  dis- 


57  - 

tance  and  cover,  as  with  a  veil,  by  personal  attacks  upon  the  individual.  It 
is  that  point  that  you  must  never  lose  sight  of,  never  let  go  out  of  your 
heart.  It  is 

WHETHER  YOU  WILL  SELI  THE  HONOR 

and  the  liberty  of  Louisiana  to  any  man  or  any  corporation  for  gold  for  even 
a  moment.  That  is  the  question  that  must  be  considered  by  our  people.  It 
is  a  question  that  is  now  agitating  the  people  of  our  State  from  the  Arkan- 
sas line  to  the  Gulf,  and  from  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi  to  Texas  ;  and  in 
1892,  when  they  are  thoroughly  informed  as  to  the  magnitude  of  this  propo- 
sition ;  when  they  understand  how  much  they  are  to  give  up  in  order  to  re- 
ceive this  mess  of  pottage,  they  will  say  to  these  people  :  Take  your  gold  and 
leave  us  our  honor  and  our  liberty.  [Great  applause.] 

We  are  fully  able,  fully  competent  in  the  strength  of  our  manhood,  in  the 
fertility  of  our  soil,  and  in  the  consciousness  that  Divine  Providence  is  al- 
ways upon  the  side  of  those  who  are  right.  [Applause.]  We  intend  to  pro- 
tect that  honor  and  take  care  of  our"  own  institutions  witliout  the  assistance 
of  the  gambling  wheel. 

It  has  been  said,  Mr.  President  and  fellow-citizens,  that  one  reason  why 
we  should  accept  this  pittance,  as  it  were,  and  sell  our  birthright  for  this  mess 
of  pottage,  is  that  we  are  unable  to  build  our  levees  that  have  been  broken. 
We  are  able  to  place  them  in  a  better  condition  than  we  were  before  the  last 
terrible  catastrophe  and  still  leave  a  surplus  in  the  treasury.  [Applause.] 
Captain  Dan  C.  Kingman  has  told  us  that  the  levees  could  be  repaired  and 
built  for  $100,000.  He  certainly  had  no  interest  in  this  lottery  question  one 
way  or  the  other,  and  consequently  had  no  interest,  in  his  responsible  posi- 
tion as  engineer  in  charge  of  the  government  works,  in  deceiving  the  people 
of  the  levee  districts. 

Again, 

I    FIND    FROM    THE    AUDITOR    HIMSELF — 

I  find  from  his  books — that  there  are  two  hundred  and  six  thousand  and  odd 
dollars  in  the  treasury  to  the  credit  of  the  general  levee  fund,  and  that  there 
was  only  the  sum  of  $50,000  to  be  paid  out  under  contract,  leaving  in  cash  in 
the  treasury  over  $200,000  to  complete  the  $100,000  work  required,  according 
to  the  report  of  Captain  Kingman. 

We  find,  also,  that  from  the  different  sources  ;  from  the  general  levee  tax 
— not  the  special  district  tax  at  all — and  the  sale  of  public  lands,  the  revenues 
received  by  the  State  will  average  the  sum  of  $75,000  per  year  ;  and  these 
figures  were  also  given  to  me"  by  the  auditor ;  so  that  we  will  have  $370,000 
at  the  end  of  this  year,  before  the  expiration  of  1890,  to  build  the  levels  and 
put  them  in  repair. 

Do  we  need  any  of  Mr.  Morris'  money  to  build  our  levees  ?  [Cries  of 
"No  !"  "No  !"] 

Why,  fellow-citizens,  I  see  in  the  expression  of  faces  here;  I  see  in  the  no- 
ble manhood  of  Louisiana  and  their  strong  muscles  that  they  would  go  upon 
our  levees,  every  man  of  them,  and  with  spade  in  hand  build  them  up  so 
high  as  to  forever  preclude  the  possibility  of  an  overflow.  [Loud  applause.] 

Now,  fellow-citizens,  they  come  to  us  with  another  plea  by  which  they 
seek  to  touch  that  chord  of  sympathy  which  vibrates  at  the  lightest  touch 


58 

in  the  bosom  of  every  true  and  good  man  ,  they  come  to  us  and  say  :  "You 
need  this  money  because  your  charities  are  unprovided  for  ,  because  your  In- 
sane Asylum  is  in  ruins  and  is  a  hovel."  I  know  personally  that  assertion 
to  be  false,  because  I  visited  that  institution  myself,  unheralded  announced 
myself  at  the  door  of  the  asylum,  walked  in  and  intrpduced  myself  to  the 
superintendent,  stating  to  him  who  I  was,  and  asked  him  if  he  would  kindly 
allow  me  to  inspect  the  institution  ;  that  I  had  three  hours  to  do  it  in,  as  I 
desired  to  take  the  return  train.  I  went  through 

THAT    INSAXE    ASYLUM 

from  basement  to  dome,  and  saw  a  magnificent  building,  one  with  which  this 
edifice  is  not  comparable.  I  saw  as  handsome  a  building  as  the  eye  of  man 
wishes  to  rest  upon  ;  with  spacious  halls  and  every  convenience  that  could 
be  desired  by  the  most  fastidious.  I  had  gone  there  expecting  to  see  a  very 
different  state  of  affairs  prevailing  ;  indeed,  I  had  gone  there  with  what  I 
might  call  an  unpleasant  feeling. 

There  was  no  attempt  at  any  special  preparations  in  this,  that  or  the  other 
department.  It  was  a  day  when  the  scrubbing  and  cleansing  process  was 
going  on.  I  walked  through  this  building,  and  I  state  it  as  a  fact  that  from 
cellar  to  roof  in  all  its  appointments,  in  all  of  its  departments,  in  its  halls 
and  in  its  rooms,  that  it  was  as  clean  as  my  own  residence  at  home,  and  that, 
I  may  say,  is  kept  by  an  excellent  housewife. 

After  I  had  inspected  the  building  I  was  afforded  the  opportunity  of  seeing 
many  of  the  inmates,  each  with  their  respective  indiosyncracies,  come  for- 
ward to  meet  the  doctor.  There  were  no  evidences  of  harsh  treatment,  for  if 
these  people  had  been  subject  to  harsh  and  cruel  treatment  they  would  not 
greet  the  superintendent  and  keepers  in  the  manner  in  which  they  did. 

As  the  hour  for  my  departure  approached  I  saw  that  dinner  was  about  to 
be  served  to  the  inmates,  and  I  said  to  the  superintendent,  will  you  kindly 
allow  me  to  inspect  the  culinary  department,  to  which  he  readily  assented. 
Upon  entering  the  kitchen  I  saw  large  pots  of  steaming  food  of  all  kinds,  all 
of  which  was  well  cooked  and  most  savory.  In  fact,  I  tasted  the  fare  and 
found  it  to  be  most  excellent.  AVnong  some  of  the  dishes,  I  may  mention 
bacon  and  cabbage,  okra,  green  corn,  squash,  boiled  potatoes,  plum  pudding, 
and  coffee.  I  do  not  think  the  bill  of  fare  can  be  surpassed  in  any  institution, 
and  it  does  not  look  as  if  our  insane  were  being  improperly  cared  for. 

Beyond  that,  fellow-citizens,  we  had,  as  shown  by  the  report  of  the  Senate 
Committee  on  Chartties;  as  shown  by  their  books  at  the  termination  of  the 
fiscal  year,  on  the  ist  of  July,  we  had,  if  I  mistake  not,  a  surplus  of  either 
rbrtv-three  or  forty-eight  thousand  dollars  for  the  maintenance  and  care  of 
these  unfortunate  people,  whose  treatment  as  far  as  the  attention  they  re- 
ceive is  concerned,  is  much  better  than  they  could  receive  at  their  homes. 

In  addition  to  the  surplus  mentioned  above,  the  last  General  Assembly  ap- 
propriated in  the  general  appropriation  bill  the  sum  of  $10,000,  the  aggregate 
of  which  amounts  is  simply  sufficient  to- admit  of  the  immediate  construction 
(and  I  do  not  know  but  that  the  work  has  been  already  begun)  of  additional 
buildings  sufficient  to  accommodate  i  ^o  or  200  more  people 


59 

Another  point,  fellow-citizens,  i  wish  to  call  your  attention  to,  is  the  fact 
that  when  I  visited  this  institution  there  were  488  unfortunates  and  242  or 
248  rooms,  I  forget  which,  so  that,  if  a  division  was  made  there  would  only 
be  two  in  each  room;  and  in  those  rooms  which  had  more  than  one  bed,  the 
distance  between  the  beds  was  greater  than  in  any  hospital;  and  there  was 
an  air  of  comfort  and  cleanliness  surrounding  these  poor  people  that  is  not 
often  found  in  public  institutions. 

These  people  are  very  fond  of  scrubbing,  and  I  was  told  by  the  superintend- 
ent that  it  was  a  difficult  matter  to  keep  them  from  it.  I  saw  a  man,  whose 
room  had  just  been  scrubbed,  running  up  and  down  with  a  pole  with  a  brick 
at  the  end  of  the  pole,  and  when  I  asked  the  doctor  what  he  was  doing,  he 
said,  "  He  thinks  he  is  scrubbing  ;  we  have  to  give  them  this  pole,  which  has 
a  brick  at  the  end,  a  soft  brick,  and  they  scrub  in  that  way."  I  tell  you, 
fellow-citizens,  that  institution  is  kept  as  clean  as  the  residence  of  any  gen- 
tleman in  the  land. 

Now,  gentlemen,  the  facts  which  I  have  just  cited  refute  one  of  the  argu- 
ments of  the  Lottery  people,  but  they  have  another,  and  that  is  that  we 
haven't  the 

MEANS    TO    EDUCATE    OUR    CHILDREN  ; 

that  the  people  of  our  State  are  growing  more  and  more  illiterate  because 
we  have  not  the  means  to  educate  the  children.  The  report,  if  I  mistake 
not,  of  the  Superintendent  of  Education  shows  that  the  session  of  our  public 
schools  averages  six  and  a  half  months  in  the  year,  running  up  in  some  of 
the  parishes  as  high  as  seven  months  and  a  half.  I  call  the  attention  of  this 
Assembly  to  the  fact  that  no  matter  how  much  money  you  are  willing  to  pay; 
no  matter  to  what  school  you  send  your  children,  it  is  an  impossibility,  unless 
you  employ  a  private  tutor,  to  afford  them  more  than  eight  months  of  school 
session  during  the  year.  There  are  generally  two  months  of  vacation  dur- 
ing the  summer,  and  then  there  are  Christmas  and  national  holidays,  making 
the  aggregate  about  four  months  out  of  the  twelve,  leaving  but  eight  months 
during  which  a  pupil  can  attend  any  school,  while,  as  I  have  said,  the 
children  of  our  State  receive  on  the  average  educational  facilities  for  six  and 
a  half  months  per  year. 

Our  State  is  increasing  in  wealth  every  day.  In  one  year  the  assessed 
value  of  property  in  Louisiana  has  risen  $18,000,000.  [Applause.]  Does 
that  look  as  if  we  were  getting  back  into  poverty?  [Cries  of  No!  No!] 
Does  that  demonstrate  that  we  need  this  Lottery  money  when  we  are  mak- 
ing this  rapid  advance  in  wealth  ?  Why,  I  regard  the  proposition,  gentle- 
men, as  an  insult  to  the  intelligence  of  our  people.  [Applause.]  I  know  it 
is  useless  to  appeal  to  such  an  intelligent  body  as  this.  I  know  that  when 
we  reach  the  time  for  the  final  vote  to  be  cast,  our  people,  educated  to  this 
main  question,  the  question  of  our  personal  and  political  liberty,  will  not 
hesitate  to  throw  themselves  into  the  breach  and  tear  down  this  damnable 
institution.  [Applause.] 

The  same  principle,  fellow-citizens,  that  caused  our  forefathers  to  place 
3000  miles  of  water  between  themselves  and  Great  Britain  ;  [applause]  the 
same  principle  that  cansed  our  forefathers  to  take  up  arms  and  inaugurate 


6o 

the  war  which  resulted  in  the  independence  of  the  United  States  ;  [loud  ap- 
plause] the  same  principle  for  which  I,  as  a  boy,  with  the  companions  I  see 
around  me,  shouldered  our  muskets  and  contended  upon  so  many  hard- 
fought  fields,  from  Manassas  to  Antietam  ;  that  principle  of  liberty  or  death 
will,  in  1892,  fire  the  breasts  and  actuate  every  true  Louisianian.  [Loud 
applause.] 

In  answer  to  cries  of  ''Rogers!"  "Rogers!" 

HON.    WALTER    H.    ROGERS 

came  forward  and  spoke  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Convention — This  convention  rests 
under  very  many  obligations  to  the  gentlemen  composing  the  Farmers'  Al- 
liance convention.  I  have  been  advised  that  they  suspended  discussion  in 
the  midst  of  some  very  important  proceedings  in  order  that  we  might  meet  at 
the  hour  appointed  on  our  adjournment  last  evening. 

You  have  been  addressed  by  gentlemen  of  distinguished  character  and 
ability,  and  of  course  you  do  not  desire  the  same  grounds  to  be  gone  over 
again  and  again,  but  let  me  almost  in  a  few  words  suggest  one  consideration 
to  this  convention  which  has  as  yet  received  but  little  attention. 

You  all  know  the  character  as  well  as  the  genius  of  our  government, 
founded  upon  a  trinity  of  power  in  order  that  the  sovereignty  of  the  State 
may  be  exercised  and  preserved .  *  On  this  great  question  which  has  pre- 
sented itself  to  the  people  of  this  State  you  have  heard  first  from  the  ex- 
ecutive of  ourcmonwealth  the  message  transmitted  under  the  constitutional 
powers  conferred  upon  himjio  the  second  branch  of  government — the  legisla- 
tive. You  have  also  heard  from  the  legislative  department  of  the  government. 
Now,gentlemen,you  have  yet  to  hear  from  the  judiciary  department  of  the  gov- 
ernment. Then  the  great  body  of  the  people  will  judge  after  the  completion 
of  the  record,  which  of  the  three  they  will  sustain,  or  maybe  they  will  not  be 
called  upon  to  sustain  the  consecrated  action  of  the  third  when  it  has 
spoken. 

By  virtue  of  the  position  which  I  occupy  in  the  government  I  am*necessa- 
rily  a  part  of  the  judiciary  system  of  the  government,  that  which  combines 
with  the  other  two  in  order  that  the  trinity  shall  be  complete.  When  that 
has  spoken  I  must  speak. 

Time  has  passed  here  honorably  and  pleasantly.  The  delegates  to  this 
convention  can  congratulate  themselves  upon  the  character  of 
their  associates,  upon  the  harmony  of  the  proceedings  and  upon  the  uniform 
courtesy  with  which  the  gentlemen  called  upon  to  preside  over  this  conven- 
tion have  performed  their  duties. 

You  leave  this  convention  for  your  homes  as  treemen  of  Louisiana,  just 
exactly  as  you'came  here.  I  will  not  say  to  you  that  you  will  do  your  duty. 
No  one  who  has  the  honor  to  be  a  Louisianian  can  ever  doubt  that.  [Ap- 
plause.] 

At  this  stage  of  the  proceedings  State 


6i 

SENATOR   J.     H.    DUGGAN, 

of  Orleans,  appeared  in  the  hall,  satchel  in  hand,  having  just  ar- 
rived, and  his  appearance  was  the  signal  for  a  rousing  ovation,  in 
which  all  joined. 

Senator  Duggan  said  that  he  regretted  very  much  not  having 
been  with  the  Convention  yesterday,  "  but,"  continued  the  sena- 
tor, "as  I  stated  to  some  of  my  friends  here  the  arrival  of  another 
'  anti '  precluded  the  possibility  of  my  coming  up.  But  I  got  a 
leave  of  absence  from  him.  I  thank  you  very  much  for  this 
demonstration,  and  heartily  concur  in  all  that  you  have  done. 

I  read  with  pleasure  the  proceedings  of  yesterday's  work  per- 
formed here,  and  I  indorse  it  and  believe  that  all  that  was  said 
will  come  true,  and  I  believe  that  it  is  the  beginning  of  a  cam- 
paign that  will  give  us  a  grand  victory  in  1892.  [Applause.]  I 
will  not  detain  the  work  of  the  Convention  longer,  and  thank 
you  for  your  demonstration." 

Mr.  Bolton  said  : 

Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Convention — It  is  certainly  very  in- 
teresting to  us  to  hear  gentlemen  discuss  the  question  here  which  has  been 
stated  is  the  question  of  all  questions  before  the  people  of  Louisiana  to-day, 
but  at  the  same  time  we  are  encroaching  on  the  time,  and  valuable  time,  of 
an  organization  that  has  kindly  consented  to  adjourn  and  give  us  the  use  of 
this  hall  not  only  yesterday,  but  to-day,  and  we  have  used  it  longer  than  it 
was  expected  to  be  used  by»us  to-day.  Therefore,  Mr.  President,  out  of 
respect  for  them,  as  many  of  them  are  here  from  all  parts  of  the  State,  and 
anxious  to  transact  their  business  so  that  they  can  go  home,  if  there  is  no 
further  business  before  the  Convention,  I  move  to  adjourn. 

Mr.  WicklifFe,  of  Orleans,  moved  that  the 

THANKS    OF    THIS    CONVENTION    ' 

be  extended  to  the  officers  of  the  Convention  for  the  able  man- 
ner in  which  they  have  performed  their  duties  ;  to  the  citizens 
of  Baton  Rouge  for  the  hospitable  reception  that  has  been  ac- 
corded to  the  Convention  ;  to  the  Farmers'  Alliance  for  the  cour- 
tesies shown  to  this  Convention  on  each  and  every  occasion 
where  the  same  could  possibly  be  offered. 

The  motion  was  duly  seconded  and  unanimously  adopted  by 
a  rising  vote. 

Mr.  Bolton  moved  that  the  Executive  Committee  be  requested 
to  incorporate  in  the  pamphlets  to  be  published  of  the  proceed- 


62 

ings  the  minority  report  of  the  committee  on  this  lottery    charter 
in  the  last  Legislature.     Carried. 

Mr.  E.  T.  Merrick,  Jr.,  of  Orleans,  secretary  of  the  committee 
on  newspapers,  on  behalf  of  said  committee,  submitted  the  fol- 
owing  report  : 

"•Your  committee  reports  $39,000  of  guaranteed  stock  handed 
in  by  the  different  delegates,  and  $59,200  as  probable  stock  to 
be  subscribed,  with  several  parishes  to  hear  from." 

It  was  then,  at  11:30  o'clock  a.  m.,  moved  and  seconded  that 
the  Convention  adjourn  sine  die. 

The  Chair — Before  we  adjourn  the  Chair  :*sks  you,  gentlemen 
of  the  Convention,  to  light  the  camp-fires  of  the  good  cause  upon 
every  hilltop  in  the  parishes,  and  keep  the  fires  burning  upon 
your-hearth  stones  until  1892.  Is  there  any  objection  to  the 
Convention  adjourning  sine  die?  The  Chair  hears  none  and  it  is 
so  ordered. 

W.  G.  YOUNG, 

C.  V.  PORTER, 

HENRY  B.  McMURRAY, 

V.  GROSJEAN, 

J.    D.   WALL, 

Secretaries. 


THE   ROSTER. 


The  full  list  of  delegates  accredited  to  the  Couvention  is  given 
in  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Credentials,  which  reads  as 
follows  : 

To  the  President  and  Members  of  the  Anti- Lottery  Convention: 

GENTLEMEN — Your  Committee   on   Credentials  beg   leave  to 

report  the  following  delegates  as   members    of  this  Convention  ; 


ACADIA. 


G.  K.  Bradford, 

S.  Cart,      ' 

John  E.  Pelton, 
Dr.  E.  T.  Taylor. 

H.  Rarrouse, 

T.  P.  Pierson. 

Nine  delegates. 

ASCENSION. 

J.  E.  St.  Martin, 

Dr.  N.  E.  Stevens. 

L  A.  Landry. 
R.  O.  Landry, 

L.  W.  Armitage, 
T.  N.  Brown, 

tM.  Brand, 
.McCall, 

J.  C,  Green, 
Martin  Knox, 

J.  Dodd  Smith, 
'Manuel  Montecino, 

J.  B.-Quinby, 
H.  C.  Brand, 

C.  Kline, 
E.  N.  Pugh, 

Dr.  J.  R.  Fridge, 
Captain  Jos.  Gonzales, 

John  Solazaris, 
S.  Goette,  Jr. 
Sam  St.  Martin, 

Adam  Brand, 
J.  M.  Lusk, 
Wm.  King, 

J.  L.  Rolling, 

O.  A.  Balbin. 

R.  M.  McCulloch. 
Henry  Schaff, 
S.  Landry. 
Adam  N.  Martinez, 

J.  O.  Landry, 
J.  H.  Ogrard,  Sr., 
George  Boote, 
Felix  Babin, 

Judge  Henrv  L.  Duffel. 
Henry  D.  Minor, 

John  Tucker, 
P.  E.  Dixon, 

John  "Blouin, 

Fifty  -eight  delegates. 

ASSUMPTION. 

W.  B.  Sharp, 

Dr.  T.  B.  Pugh, 

P.  E.  Juge,Jr, 
Walter  Guion, 

Owen  Templet. 
P.  Savoie, 

C.  Numa  Folse, 

Tps.'Arcenaux, 

Justitien  Gros, 
C.  C.  Paston, 

Eugene  Lize. 
Sebastian  Hidalgo, 

Magloia  Bourgeois, 
Dr.  E.  T.  Painchaud, 

J.  A.  Dalferes, 
Chas.  Schreiber, 

Anatole  Trahan, 

Ernest  L.  Monnot, 

John   Carier, 

Tavlor  P.  Himel, 

L.  H.  Pugh, 

W.'F.  Himel, 

Gus.  Latarre, 

Leo  Cancienne, 

Thirty-six  delegates. 

Dr.  B.  Irion, 
T.  P.  Harmason, 
D.  B.  Hudson, 
David  Siess, 
T.  D.  Weir, 
A.  D.  Lafargue, 
Sam  Norwood, 
Cassius  Leigh, 
Noel  Norwood, 

Twenty  five  delegates. 


AVOYELLES. 


J.  A.  Tassin, 
J.  H.  Rvland, 
Dr.  L.  ftabalais, 
P.  A.  Couvillon, 
Dr.  E.  DeNux, 
Wm.  Hall, 
Eloi  Joffrion, 
E.  J.  JortYion, 


Ernest  Daigle, 
W.  F.  Brooks, 
W.  W.Evans. 


H.  P.  Percy, 
P.  E.  Brand, 
Jos.  Gonzales,  Jr. 
H.  T.  Brown, 
John  Howell, 
Alfred  Beekner, 
C.  C.  Brown. 
G.  M,  Garig, 
S.  J.  Boote, 
Ursin  Cogreve, 
Capt.  R.  Prosper  Landry. 
J.  D.  Cassard, 
Alex.  Marchand, 
Wm.  Nickens, 
J.  A.  Gonzales, 
A.  Gonzales, 
John  Anderson, 
John  Lapellyre. 
Felix  Landry. 


Stephen  E.  Royer, 
Frank  Hidalgo, 
J.  M.  Lescale, 
Frank  Pansano, 
Capt.  E.  E.  Lauve. 
W.  E.  Himel, 
Hugues  Larre, 
Michel  Cazare, 
N.  Blanchard, 
Oscar  Foise, 
Clauville  Delaune, 
Lenfroid  LeBlanc. 


W.  R.  Perkins, 
B.  B.  Joffrion, 
H.  C.  Perkins, 
T.  E.  Trudeau, 
J.  A.  Lemoine, 
J.  A.  Morrow, 
Stephen  Fouquier, 
G.  A.  Bordelon, 


/ 

64 

BIENVILLE. 

W.  B.  Prothro, 
H.  V.  Tooke, 

T.  T.  Peddy, 
James  Brice, 

T.  J.  Butler, 
J.  A.  Brewer, 

Six  delegates. 

BOSSIER. 

W.  K.  Baten, 

A.  A.  Thompson, 

R.  H.  Curry. 

John  Pickett, 

Four  delegates. 

CADDO. 

T.  F.  Bell, 

N.  Gregg, 

R.  Kohh, 
R.  A.  Gray, 

J.  W.  Pickins, 
D.  H.  Allison, 

J.  C.  Moncure, 
W.  C.  Perrin, 
T.  M.  Hollingsworth, 
W.  H.  Wise, 
T.  M.  Foster, 
J.  C,  Beazley. 
John  R.  Land, 

N.  B.  Murff, 
J.  H.  Shepherd. 
Z.  Grosjean, 
The.  Barron, 
D.  A.  Simpson, 
J.  P.  Spearman, 
Sidney  Hall, 

R.  N.  McKellar, 
Ed.  Holden, 
Wm.  Browning, 
tB.  Newton, 
.  B.  Martin, 
W.  C.  Vance. 

Twenty-six  delegates. 

CALCASIEU. 

G.  A,  Fournet, 
E.  J.  Lyons, 
A.  P.  Puio, 
J.  W.  Rostud, 
T.  J.  Carroll, 

J.  H.  Materne, 
A.  Severance, 
J.  C.  Lebleu, 
J.  C.  Munday, 

J.  L.  Ryan, 
S.  P.  Read, 
Thos.  Kleinpeter, 
John  G.  Gray. 

Thirteen  delegates. 

CAMERON. 

S.  P.  Henry. 

One  delegate. 

CATAHOULA. 

T.  E.  Pritchard. 

One  delegate. 

CLAIBORNE. 

W.  S.  Ledbetter, 
Thomas  Price, 

T.  A.  Richardson, 
R.  A.  N.  Winn, 

Z,  A.  Whets, 
D.  A.  J.  Caruthen, 

J.  W.  McFarland, 
A.  F.  Nelson, 

G.  T-  Tarrell, 
E,  W."  Cox, 

T.  R.  Phipps, 
J.  C.  Moore. 

Twelve  delegates. 

DE    SOTO. 

Wm:  Goss, 

Joshua  Billingsley, 

Two  delegates. 

EAST    BATON    ROUGE. 

AT    LARGE. 

S.  G.  Laj'cock, 
G.  L.  Vay, 

G.  A.  Kleinpeter, 
A.  Doherty, 

John  R.  Nesbitt. 
H.  S.  Flvnn, 

A.  L.  Denham, 
W.  P.  Chancy, 

T.  W.  Nicholson, 
W.  C.Annis. 

I.  J.  David, 
J.  Simon. 

S.  E.  Singletary, 

W.  G.  Samuel, 

FIRST    WARD. 

J.  C.  Gavle, 

H.  N.  Sherburne, 

T.  J.  Kernan, 

A.  W.  Sharp, 

SECON7D    WARD. 

F.  M.  Brooks, 

W,  H.  Goodale, 

Isaac  Raas, 

Joseph  Sanches. 

THIRD     WARD. 

John  L.  Walker, 

Thomas  B.  Brown, 

W.  P.  Denham, 

E.  F.  Fleming. 

FOURTH     WARD 

T.  W.  YoungJ 
G.  C.  Mills, 

R.  J.  Hummel, 

Charles  Wolf. 

R.  H.  Redden, 
F.  W.  Nobles, 

John  Kleinpeter, 
J.  W.  Knox, 

Charles  Knowlton, 
Joseph  Achord, 

J.  A.  Cassagne, 
M.  J.  Lopez, 

W.  J.  Sharp, 
J.  L.  Bernard, 

H.  W.  Wallace, 
A.  J.  Fleming, 

Fifty -four  delegates. 


EAST    BATON    ROUGB. 
FIFTH    WARD. 

Joseph  Millican, 

SIXTH  WARD. 

Dr.  J.  S.  Huguet, 

SEVENTH     WARD. 

J.  W.  Hilhnan, 

EIGHTH    WARD. 

J.  A.  Lopez, 

NINTH     WARD. 

W.  D.  Stokes, 

TENTH  WARD. 

Daniel  Morgan, 


EAST    CARROLL. 


Charles  Langham, 
P.  D.  Quays, 

W.  II    Benjamin. 

T.  J.  Powell, 
J.  A    Brooks, 

Seven  delegates. 

EAST    FELICIANA. 

D.  W.  Pipes, 

C.  C.  Brown, 

Charles  Kilbourne, 

Lewis  Levy, 

T.  S.  Adams, 

A.  E.  Carter, 

James  Kilbourne, 
W.  F.  Kernan, 
A.  A.  Carruth, 

T.  J.  Fuqua, 
Jos.  Rich, 
W.  E.  Benton, 

Frank  Lea, 

W.  W.   Douglass, 

R.J.  Pemble, 

J.  W.  Grippe  n, 

W.'O.  Hvnes, 

A.  P.  Regan, 

A.  R.  Hblcombe, 

B.  W.  Kernan, 

W.  II  .  Hartner, 

J.S.  McAclams, 

G.  |.  Ramsey, 
A.  B.  Pavne", 
II.  Skip  with,  Sr., 

S.  S.  Nettle,  Jr., 
Jos.  Israel, 
Calhoun  Fluker, 

W.  Skipwith, 

T.  C.  McCowan, 

C.  R.  Collins, 

R.  B.  Kennedy, 

John  F.  McKneely, 
Henry  Skipwith,  Jr. 

A.  J.  Hausey, 
Henry  P.  Heath, 

Fifty-four  delegates. 

FRANKLIN 

R.  IT.  Breaux. 

W.  J.  Ellis. 

Two  delegates. 

GRANT. 

A.  C.  Teddle, 

B.  C.  Dean, 

W.  t".  Roberts, 

A.  J.  Dunn, 

I.   M.   Fletcher. 

B.  A.  Fortson, 

j.  11.  Williams. 

Ten  delegates. 

IBERIA. 

C.  C.  Kramer, 

R.  S.  Perry, 

T.  L.  Morse, 

J.  D.  Broussard, 

R.  F.  Broussard, 

Aug.  Pascal, 

1.  M.  Satterneld, 
V.  A.  Aucoin, 

J.  A.  Fagot, 
A.  B.  Romero, 

].   R.   Davis. 
V.  0.  I.eManc, 

John  M.  A  very, 
Alcee  Baudin, 

I  It-  in  v  Koch, 
T.  D.  Foster, 

J.  W.  Callahan, 
H.  B.  Bayard, 

Frank  Tucker, 
D.  A.  Robertson, 
Lee  David. 
J.  O.Lopez. 
S.  W.  Booksh. 
James  Bogan, 


J.  M.  Kennedy, 
John  C  Buckner, 


C.  D.  Smith, 
A.  J.  Norwood,  Jr. 
John  Y.  Reily, 
J.  D.  Wall, 
S.  J.  Hatcher, 
A.  E.  Miller, 
T.  P.  East, 
Thos.  Roberts, 
J.  G.  Kilbourne, 
Isidore  Mayer, 
John  M.  Robins, 
George  J.  Reily, 
E.  N.  Perkins, 
J.  A.  White,  Sr., 
Georg-e  White, 
J.  D.  Norwood, 
James  Carruth, 
J.  W.  Robins. 


G.  W.  Brace, 
A.  G.  Thompson, 
M.  F.   Machen, 


J.  A.  Lee, 
Ed.  Weeks, 
R.  D.  Stansbury, 
Wm.  Lowd. 
Henry  Mestayer, 
H.  Decourt, 
Theo.  Miques, 
W.  J.  Burke, 
Hartwell  Hart. 


Twenty -seven  delegates. 


66 


Thos.  Supple, 
G.  W    McFall, 
T.  F.  Davis, 
John  Allsworth, 
B.  C.  Deblanc, 
E.  D.  Leche. 

Sixteen  delegates. 


J.  T.  M.  Hancock, 
H.  C.  Wald worth, 
H.  C.  Allen, 
L.  M.  Hearn. 

Ten  delegates. 


IBERVILLE. 

Belfort  Mirionneaux, 
H.  R.  Slack. 
P.  S.  Pastel,  Tr., 
E.  B.  Talbot, 
S.  T.  McCardell, 


JACKSON. 

S.  W.  Collins, 
B.  F.  Smith, 
J.  C.Jones, 


LAFAYETTE. 


M.  Hanlon, 
Louis  Barbay, 
S.  Mathews, 
T.  E.  Grace, 
O.  G.  Brown, 


R.  M.  Nashet. 
J.  W.  Therman, 
W.  R.  Womack, 


F.  J.  Mayer, 

M.  L.  Lyons, 

J.  Massie  Martin, 

Harrison  Theall. 

Sidney  Greig, 

R.  Clemill  Landry, 

M.  A.  D.  Landry, 

C.  H.  Bradley. 

Twenty-two  delegates. 


C.  C.  Brown, 
Jos.  Begnaux, 
Ben.  Avant, 
Arthur  C.  Mouton, 
G.  W.  Krewton, 
J.  Gus.  St.  Julienue, 
A.  C.  Guilbeau, 

R.  W.  Elliot, 
Jules  Broussard, 
P.  M.  Girard, 
Overton  Cade, 
J.  D.  Trahan, 
Z.  Dousset, 
Wm.  Clegg, 

LINCOLN. 


A.  C.  Calhoun, 
G.  M.  Lomax, 
E.  F.  Warren, 
J.  R.  Reivas, 

Twelve  delegates. 


Ozeime  Naquin, 
H    W.  Tabor, 
Ed.  Badeaux, 
Jos.  Oschwold, 
C.  Lagarde, 
W.  Price, 
J.  B.  Pitman, 

Twenty  delegates. 


T.  D.  Blount, 
R.  J.  Gates, 
T.  J.  Nixon, 
W.  H.  Bridges, 
Jaii.esH.  Garrison, 

Fifteen  delegates. 


George  W.  Sevier, 
G.  L.  Boney, 
T.  J.  Turpin, 
George  W.  Long, 
J.  G.  Hawkes, 
W.  G.  Jeffries. 

Sixteen  delegates. 


T.  A.  Tetts, 
"F.  W.  Price, 
T.  M.  White, 
E.  M.  Graham, 


LAFOURCHE. 

L.  Keefe, 

John  D.  Zauche, 

George  Dionne, 

Tom  Barry, 

Oscar  Burg, 

J.  Howell, 

J.  A.  Blanchard, 


LIVINGSTON. 

A.  Collins, 

B.  B.  Singletary, 
J.  B.  Easterly, 
S.  S.  Dixon, 

J.  A.  Minton, 


MADISON. 

W.  B.  Bowers, 
A.  L.  Slack, 
A.  C.  Monette, 
Frank  S.  Roe, 
H.  P.  Morancy, 


R.  D.  Marble, 
S.  N.  Stevenson, 
Jas.  Ford, 
R.  V.  Whitstone, 
W.  C.  Andrews, 
A.  K.  Watt, 
E.  Harp, 
W.  Morgan. 

Twenty-two  delegates. 


MOREHOUSE. 

Frank  Pratt, 
J.  P.  Madison, 
T.  W.  W.lliams, 
G.  H.   Johnson, 
G.  W.'Westbrook, 
A.  W.Jones, 
T.  G.  Brigham, 


J.  W.  Burt, 
J.  Drain, 
J.  F.  Mathews, 
A.  H.  CaJvin. 


P.  Toups. 
H.  Oncle, 
Sam  Blum, 
Jules  Basset, 
Thomas  Kent, 
Jos.  LeBlanc, 


D.  W.  Felder, 
J.  S.  Leftwick, 
S.  G.  Peake, 
Joseph  H.  Allen, 
G.  L.  Minton. 


H.  B.  Holmes, 
G.  A.  Richardson, 
Stephen  Neal, 
Tom  Burton, 
D.  D.  Moss, 


G.  G.  Bufon, 
C.  Newton, 
A.  N.  McMeans, 
Joe  Davenport. 
O.  C.  Aldrich, 
W.  R.  Brinckley, 
N.  W.  Johnson, 


A.  E.  Sompayrac, 
M.  L.  Dismukes, 
M.  H.  Carver, 
D.  Pierson, 
J.  H.  Hill, 
S.  G.  Louden, 
H.  Pophull, 
J.  O.  Maybin, 
C.  E.  Grenaux, 
I).   M  .  Simmons. 
J.  D.  Cawthorn,  Jr. 
A.  B.  Cockrield. 
A.  Marinavich, 

Thirty-seven  delegates. 


NATCHITOCHES. 

P.  P.  Bra/.eale, 
T.  L.   Ma  this, 
A.  V.  Carter, 
G.  A.  Kilgore, 
G.  L.  Trichel, 
J.  C.  Davis, 
C.  V.  Porter, 
J.   M.  Corli-y, 
J.  H.  Stephens, 
T.  R.  Weaver, 


G.  J.  Cook, 
J.  W.  Coc 


Cockerham, 


ORLEANS. 


R.  B.  Williams, 

J.  J.  Rains, 

H.  P.Brazeale, 

R.  B.  Hollingsworth, 

J.  A.  Prudhomme, 

H.  M.  Hyams, 

J.   W.Jones, 

M.J.  Cunningham, 

W.  C.  Cox, 

W.  B.  Butler, 

A.  T.  Harris, 

R.  E.  Jackson, 


C.  Harrison  Parker, 
Edward  Booth, 
James  C.  Moise, 

Nine  delegates. 

F.  A.  Monroe, 
R.  A.  DeRussy. 
J.  Y.  Gil  more, 
T.  M.  Gill, 
E.  F.  Kohnke, 

Fourteen  delegates. 


Jos.  C.  Gilmore, 
John  J.  Driscoll, 
Hugh  McManus, 
Wynne   Rogers, 
Pat  Kenrick, 
Wm.  II.    Moon, 
Steve  McNamara, 
F.  B.  Lee, 
Jos.  M.  Rice, 
Herman  Meader, 
Thos.  J.  Moran, 
Terrence  Reiley. 

Thirty-four  delegates. 


W.  W.  Carre, 
Frnnk  D.  Chretien, 
D.  J.  Sadlier, 

Eight  delegates. 


Jos.  Pasalaqua, 
J.  G.  Smith, 
Sosthene  Callier, 

Eight  delegates. 


E.  D.  White, 

F.  T-  Dreyfus, 
S.  ii.  Gilf, 

O.  W.  Long, 

Eleven  delegates. 


Frank  Marquez, 
J.  C.  Cullen, 
Albert  de  Armas, 
Louis  Arnauld. 

Ten  delegates. 


FIRST    WARD. 

John  R.  Con  way, 
S.  | .  Kohlman,  ' 
George  W;  Roberts, 


SECOND    WARD, 

Hugh  Flvnn, 
T.  D.  Hill, 
Jeremiah  Lyons, 
Bernard  McCloskey, 
James  Midclleton. 


THIRD    WARD. 

W.  S.  Terry. 
John  McCloskey, 
James  Lindsay, 

M.  [.   Loiiy, 

Win.  Sheridan, 

Thos.  H.  Loftys, 

I.  B    Cameron", 
"H.  C.  Schindler, 

Charles  C.  Cotting, 

\Vm.  II.  Byrnes, 

M.J.  McFarlane, 


FOURTH    WARD, 

Charles  Carroll, 
M.J.  Lehman, 
Dan  Rees, 


FIFTH      WARD. 

Aug.  Doussan, 
Wm.  Ryan, 
Theo.  foto. 


SIXTH     WARD. 

Frank  C.  Zacharie, 
Ramon  Rivet, 
Jos.  Lombard, 
"H.  A.  Parra. 


SEVENTH     WARD. 

Wm.  O.  Beckei, 

E.  L.  Cope. 
"Stephen  J.  Derbes, 


R.  H.  Browne, 

S.  S.  Prentiss. 

N.  W.  Longshore, 


JohnJ.  O'Connor 
Bernard  Titche 
E.  N.  Whittemore, 
R.  L.  Tullis, 


Wm.  Steinback, 

A.  K.  Finlay, 
Wm.  Cunningham, 
Jos.  Purcell, 
Hugh  Gilmore, 

B.  I'.    Moss, 
Jefl  Harnett, 
Geo.  G.  Garner, 
Geo.  W.  Miller, 
James  J.  Woulfe, 
W.  T.  Richards, 


W.  E.  Sewell, 
Felix  Vatcaro, 


?.  Israel, 
os.  St.  Donates, 


Victor  |.  Botto, 
Edw.  M.  11.  Eitzcn 
C.  A.  Phillippi, 


F.  O.  Koelle, 
C.  A.  Heyland, 
F.  F.  Stringer, 


68 


Edw.  de  Armas, 
Herman  Bremmermann, 
Owen  Mallin, 

Seven  delegates. 

R.  L.  Schroeder, 
Fred.  Zengel, 
Wm.  H.  Wright, 

Seven  delegates. 

W.  G.  Vincent, 
Michael  Foley, 
John  Kaiser, 
Dennis  McCarthy, 
C.  B.   Stafford, 
J.  T.  Sawyer, 

Eighteen  delegates. 

• 

Frank  McGloin, 
John  C.  Wickliffe, 
Charles  Jones, 
W.  J.  Pattison, 
F.  L.  Richardson, 
Jos.  C.  Younnes, 

Sixteen  delegates. 

Jordan  T.  Aycock, 
Frank  B.  Th'omas, 
T.  A.  Clayton, 
T.  C.  W.  Ellis, 
Girault  Farrar. 

Fourteen  delegates. 

C.  F.  Alba, 
Henry  Zeller, 
K.  D.  Chandler, 

Nine  delegates. 

Jos.  H.  Duggan, 
David  Zable, 
J.  H.  Ferguson, 

Nine  delegates. 

John  Reaney, 
Frank  A.  Daniels, 

Five  delegates. 

W.  R.  Ker, 
W.  R.  Lyman, 

Six  delegates. 

R.  H.  Lea, 

F.  R.  Cogswell, 

Five  delegates. 

W.  H.  Rogers, 
E.  H.  Farrar, 
Branch  M.  King, 
Lawrence  Forno. 


ORLEANS. 

EIGHTH     WARD. 

Eugene  Munch, 
Henry  C.  Colomb, 


NINTH    .WARD, 


Frank  Zengel, 
JohnJ.  Burnett, 


TENTH    WARD* 

Geo.  W.  McDuff, 
Euclid  Borland, 
E.  K.  Skinner, 
W.  B.  Bloomfield, 
Peter  Coyle, 
James  McConnell, 


ELEVENTH    WARD. 

Thos.  Dunn, 

Geo.  C.  Preot. 

Tames  David  Coleman. 

Richard  Riley, 

B.  F.  Eshleman, 


TWELFTH   WARD. 

H.  C.  Miller, 
R.  H.  Marr,Jr., 
J.  P.  McElroy, 
Geo.  W.  Young, 
Ambrose  Smith, 


THIRTEENTH    WARD. 

W.  E.   Raymond, 
F.  J.  Leche, 
Wolfred  Landry, 


FOURTEENTH   WARD. 

Sam'l  L.  Gilmor?, 
E.  T.  Merrick,Jr., 
B.  T.  Walshe, 


FIFTEENTH     WARD. 

Thos.  E.  Higgins, 
Victor  Reaud, 


SIXTEENTH    WARD. 

A.  T.  Terry. 
Charles  Lyman, 


SEVENTEENTH   WARD. 

\Vm.  \V.  McLaughlin, 
S.  L.  Henry, 


AT   LARGE. 

E.  Howard  McCaleb, 
N.  D.  Wallace, 
S.  S.  Jones, 


Peter  W.  Mart. 
Thos.  O'Brien, 


Wm.  Hillsman, 
Ralph  Sherwood, 


Wm.  Henderson, 
H.  E.  Upton, 
A.  E.  Morphy, 
Richard  Allen, 
M.  Hinman, 
F.  E.  Rainold. 


C.  F.  Quina, 
Robert  B.  Parker, 
Richard  F.  Straughan, 
A.  A.  Woods, 
A.  G.  Quina, 


R.  B.  Jones, 

A.  Semmes  BlarTer, 

F.  D.  VanValkenburgh, 

Chas.  E.  Babcock. 


Edw.  Gauche, 
Ed.  Eisenhauer, 
E.  R.  Chevalley. 


Geo.  C.  Walshe. 
N.  W.  Gauche, 
Lyman  S.  Widney. 


Dan  Twooney, 


James  Westerfield, 
C.  W.  Lvman 


Henry  Pohlmann, 


Louis  Bush, 

W.  P.  McLaughlin 

John  C.  Vance. 


Ten  delegates. 

Total,  Orleans,  197  delegates. 


Frank  P.  Stubbs, 
W.  T.  Theobold, 
Geo.  W.  Bolton, 
D.  W.  Faulk, 
Alex.  Myatt, 

Thirteen  delegates. 

John  Dvmond, 

\Vilkinson, 
M.  Cognevich. 

Seven  delegates. 


OUACHITA. 

T.  H.  Flournoy, 
Franklin  Garrett, 
SairTl  Whited, 
A.  S.  Helmick, 


PLAQJJEMINES. 

F.  S.  Gencrcs, 
G.  A.  Hayes, 


D.  T.  Mcrrick, 
J.  T.  Quinn, 

W.  T.  Pouncey, 
J.  !•'.  Gayle, 

Twelve  delegates. 

Joseph  Torras, 
Geo.  W.  Reagan, 
G.  P.  Ferguson, 
S.  W.  Turpin. 

Ten  delegates. 

O.  Lacour, 

J.  G.  Batchelor, 

G.  T.  Causey, 

Nine  delegates. 

C.  A.  Adams, 
W.  D.  RogilHo. 

Four  delegates. 

James  Vignes, 
Alfred  Lindsley, 

Five  delegates. 

E.  Guerin, 

P.  V.  Rougon, 
J.  A.  Rougon. 

Eight  delegates. 

C-  H.  I.ebeau, 

Antoine  Gosserand, 
Wm.  Hurst. 

Eight  delegates. 

L.  B.  Bailey, 
Two  delegates. 
Total,  Pointe  Coupee, 


F.  Seip. 
E.  G.  Hunter, 
C.  R.  Ilayworth, 
B.  H.  Randolph, 

W.  Polk,  jr., 
W.  P.  Ford, 
J.  C.  Barron, 
J.  E.  Collins, 
J.  D.  Philips, 

Twenty-six  delegates. 


POINTE    COUPEE. 

FIRST    WARD. 

W.  B.  Thompson, 
D.  I.  Addison, 
Joe  Sterling, 
A.  J.  Norwood, 


SECOND    WARD. 

C.  Segliers, 
Nat.  P.  Phillips, 
J.  D.  Nelson, 


THIRD   WARD. 

P.  T.  Strieker, 
D.  A.  Caldwell, 
F.  E    Davis, 


FOURTH    WARD. 

A-  Vignes, 

FIFTH     WARD. 

M.  Thompson, 
Fred.  Jewell. 

EIGHTH    WARD. 

P.  Berthier, 
E.  P.  Denis, 
M.  G.  Hewes, 

NINTH     WARD. 

C.  F.Janis, 
Joseph  Sanson, 
O.  O.  Provost  v. 

TENTH     WART. 

C.   L.  Andrews. 

fifty -eight  delegates. 
RAPIDES 

G.  W.  Bolton, 
T.  G.  White, 
.1.  ].  Swan, 
V.~  M  .  Carruth, 
Wm.  Harris, 
Sam  F.lum. 
A.  G.  Compton, 
J.  W.  Tex  a  da, 
Z.  P.  Squires. 


Walter  Head, 
D.  M.  Sholars, 
J.  Greyton, 
John  T.  Morris, 


Roselius  Perez, 
L.  F. Jack, 


J.  H.   Smith, 
J.  F.  Collins, 
S.  R.  Harmanson. 
John  M.  Pickett. 


J-:.  II  .  Smith, 
J.  D.  Goode, 
Stanhope  Cain. 


E.  E.  Kohnbacher. 
J.  T.  Phillips, 
A.  J.  Lacour. 


F.  A.  Beauvais, 


Alvin  Provosty, 


Geo.  Joor, 
Charles  Parlangc, 


Thoma*  Mix, 
R.  M.  Calruth, 


S.  F.  Meeker, 
R.  L.  Lncket, 
C.  M.  Shaw, 

B.  Y.    Leu  is. 

C.  I.   Uarstowc, 

I.  P.  Hickman, 

II.  H.    White. 
W.  A.  Wilson, 


T.  F.  Pierson, 
P.  L.  Collins, 

Five  Delegates. 


E.  M.  McDonald, 
McG.  Bromby. 
Four  delegates. 


RED    RIVER. 

S.  G.  Hollingsworth, 
D.  M.  Giddens. 


RICHLAND. 
R*  H.  Brown, 


SABINE. 


John  E.  Bullard, 
J.  W.  Taylor, 
T.  J.  Brown. 
W.  T.  Hopkins, 

J.  F.  Lucius, 
H.  M.  Gandy, 
W.  J.  Salter, 
H.  S.  Ellzey, 

T.  A.  Tramel, 
J.  M.  Franklin, 
J.  W.  Conerly, 
L.  J.  Nash, 

J.  R.  Parrott, 
W.  M.  Webb, 
A.  Litton,  Sr., 
R.  G.  Brown, 

W.'S.  Brown, 

L.  Reddick, 

Twenty  -seven  delegate 

is. 

ST.    BERNARD. 

H.  T.  Lawler, 

P.V.  Relimpio, 

C.   W.  Harper, 

H.  L.  Turner, 

Thomas  H.  Dillard. 

Seven  delegates. 

H.  S.  Newsom, 
A.  X.  Brown, 
E.  D.  Harold, 

Seven  delegates. 

J.  J.  Jacob, 

"H.  L.  Ferchaud, 

A.  A.  Robert, 

P.  M.  Lambremont,  Jr., 

W.  P.  Cagnolatti, 

R.  Esterbrooks, 

Geo.  Gagnier, 

O.  D.  Bfllou. 

A.  J.  Billou, 

H.  A.  Himel, 

J.  K.  Tucker, 

T.  P.  Cockaran, 

Thirty-six  delegates. 

E.  T.  Lewis, 
R.  M.  Littell, 
T.  S.  Fontenot, 
G.  G.  Thompson, 
S.  Jos.  Wilson, 

Fifteen  delegates. 


ST.     HELENA. 

W.  Butterworth, 
A.  W.  Carruth, 


M.  J.  Foster, 


1 


Loret, 
.  N.  Pharr, 

M.   Rogers, 
.  M.  Burgiere, 
I.D.  Smith, 
A.  C.  Allen, 
T.  D.  Saint, 
D.  Caffery, 

Twenty-five  delegates 

Geo.  Keopp, 
Clay  Elliot, 
George  H.  Gause, 
W.  E.  Talley, 
J.  R.  Dunham. 
J.  H.  Murphy, 

Sixteen  delegates. 


ST.    LANDRY. 

R.  M.   Heath, 
"W.  F.  Clopton, 
B.  F.  Vanoy, 
Richard  Heatherton, 
D.  W.  Helm, 

ST.    MARY. 
W.  P.  Kemper, 
M.  W.  Bosworth, 
T  J.  Foster, 
M.  Bell, 
J.  A.  O'Neill, 
J.  B.  Glvnn, 
G.  J.  McBride, 
O.  P.  Going, 


ST.    TAMMANY. 

Charles  Talley, 
Alf.  LeBlanc, 
Ben  Rogers, 
Ben  C.  Williams, 
John  A.  Ernest, 


B.  W.  Marston, 


W.  H.  Todd, 


W.  W.  Edwards, 
Dan  Vandegaer, 
W.  R.  Alford, 
R.  A.  Forbis, 
J.  H.  Caldwell, 
AmosL.  Ponder, 
E.  F.  Presley, 
Leo  Vaudegaer, 
A.  Severance. 


Ferd.  Colomb, 
J.  W.  Dautrive, 


M.  A.  Strickland, 
W.  W.  Mathews, 


ST.  JAMES. 

L.  Folse, 

E.  Gravois, 

Folger  Green, 

O.Jacob, 

L.  A.  Pellerin, 

L.  S.  Webre, 

T.  Lambert, 

E.  D.  Barton, 

A.  Donaldson, 

E.  H.  Barton, 

L.  Thibodeaux, 

A.  P.  Tregre, 

tB.  Dubourg, 
.  Keller, 

D.  T.  Morgan, 
R.   McCreery, 

A.  Arcenaux, 

R.  M.  Ellis, 

Henry  Steib, 

T-  L.  Brand, 

D.  LeBlanc, 

John  Tregre, 

V.  Roine, 

C.  Lambert. 

R.  L.  Hawkins, 
G.  T.  Hawkins, 
Sam1!  H.  Faulknet. 
T.  H.  Lewis, 
Jones  P.  Smith. 


C.  M.  Smith. 
K.  C.  Cross, 
J.  C.  Murphy, 
W.  T.  Tones, 
S.  S.  Hine, 
A.  M.  Underwood, 
J.  A.  Pelerman, 
E.  D.   Martin, 


E.  P.  Robert, 
R.  J.  Taylor, 
J.  W.  Decker, 
E.  Robert, 
A.  W.  Bens, 


TANGIPAHOA. 


O.  P.  Amacker, 
L.  II.  Bowden, 
F.  P.  Mix, 
John  Pierce; 
Joseph  Breland. 

Thirteen  delegates. 


N.  S.  Williams. 


One  delegate. 


J.  J.  Shilling, 
G.  D.  Lewis, 
S.  D.  Ellis, 
Daniel  Edwards, 


TERREBONNE. 


UNION. 


W.  H.  McClendon, 
John  Vining, 
A.  R.  Draughon. 
T.  E.  Warner. 


James  A.  Manning-, 
S.   K.  Nolan, 
J.  H.  Oshurn, 
J.  A.  Peak. 

Eleven  delegates. 


Minor  T.  Gordey.  Jr. 
W.  L.  Vanslyke. 

Four  delegates. 


D.  W.  Ilollis, 
J.  M.  Dawkins, 
R.  C.  Murphy, 
J.  M.  Gore.  " 

VERMILION. 
J.  Abshire,Jr. 

VBRNON, 


J.  D.  Hamilton, 
R.  M.  Gill, 
R.  F.  Terry, 


Howard  Hophauer, 


Lee  McAlpin, 
Two  delegates. 


P.  B.  Carter. 

W.  V.Broomneld. 

Five  delegates. 


G.  L.  P.  Wren, 
Three  delegates. 

II.  R.  Lott, 

Three  delegates. 


Any:.  Levert, 
John  Hill,  Jr., 
Win     Gassie. 

L.  Kirkland, 

A.  Dauthier. 

Fifteen  delegates. 


Thomas  Butler, 
Robert  Daniel, 
Duiu-an  Stewart, 

W.     ]        Fort, 

M.  S.   Williams, 


Sixteen  delegates. 


Louis  Lara  se  . 

WASHINGTON. 

J.  M.  Burris, 

E.  W.  McClendon, 

WEBSTER. 
J.J.  Stewart, 

WEST    CARROLL. 
M.  C.  Cooper, 

WEST    BATON    ROUGE. 

T.  J.  Reames, 
C.K    Schwinjr, 
Gaudin  Caix.es, 
Emile  Gassie, 
Chas.  Aubert. 

WEST    FELICIANA. 

J.  B.  McGehee, 
*Wm.  Stewart, 
W.  W.  Leake, 


las.  P.  Mowman, 
C.  E.   Do 


cker, 


W.  L.  Smith, 


J.  E.  Burch. 


H.  J.  Cheatham. 


J.  M.  LeBlanc, 
II.  S.  Wilkinson, 
W.  15.  Chamberlin, 
T.  Mary, 
C.  M.    Flyun. 


B.  Harralson, 

J.  G.   Wa.ie. 

Hubert  McMontgomeiy, 

Jas.  L.  Golson. 

S.  McC.   Lawrison. 

T.  B.  McGehee. 


K.  S.  Tannehill, 
\\  .    15.    liailey. 

Six  delegates. 


G.  P.  Lone, 
Ed.  Eagle's,  Jr., 


H.  L.  Briant, 
Geo.  A.  Keller. 


MINORITY  REPORT  OX  THE   LOTTERY  BILL. 


AN    ABLE    DOCUMENT,    PRESENTING    CONCLUSIVE     REASONS 
AGAINST  THE  GREAT  GAMBLING  JOB. 

The  Minority  Report  of  the  Committee  of  the  House  of  Rep-    f 
resentatives  on  the   Lottery   Bill,  presented    on  June  16,  reads  as 
follows,  and   was  directed   by  the  Convention  to  be  republished 
with  these  proceedings  : 

To  the  Speaker  and  Members  of  the  House  of  Representatives:  The 
undersigned,  members  of  the  Special  Committee  to  which  was  referred  House 
Bill  No.  214,  proposing  to  amend  the  Constitution  by  inserting  therein  an 
article  entitled,  "An  Article  on  Levees,  Schools,  Charities,  Pensions  and 
Lotteries,"  beg  leave  to  dissent  from  the  report  of  the  majority  on  said  bill, 
and  to  file  this  their  minority  report,  setting  up  their  objections  to  the  sa:iie 
and  their  reasons  for  recommending  its  rejection  by  your  honorable  body. 

The  importance  of  this  proposition  can  scarcely  be  overestimated.  It  will 
affect  the  destinies  of  Louisiana  for  good  or  evil  for  the  next  generation,  and 
upon  its  adoption  or  rejection  will  depend,  in  a  great  measure,  the  prosperity 
and  happiness  of  the  sons  and  daughters  to  coma  after  us. 

It  behooves  us  then  to  bring  to  its  consideration  the  most  thorough  and 
conscientious  research  and  our  most  mature  judgment,  and  above  all  to  be 
actuated  by  the  most  unselfish  devotion  to  the  interest  and  the  welfare  and 
the  honor  of  our  beloved  State. 

THE    PROPOSITION 

js  to  grant  to  an  individual,  and  his  associates  and  successors,  the  exclusive 
privilege  of  establishing  and  maintaining  a  lottery  in  Louisiana  for  twenty- 
five  years,  from  January  i,  1894,  and  in  return  for  this  exclusive  privilege 
the  State  is  to  receive  the  sum  of  $25,000,000,  payable  in  installments  as  set 
forth  in  the  bill,  and  distributed  to  the  levees,  schools,  charities,  pensions, 
drainage  and  sanitation  of  the  City  of  New  Orleans,  as  therein  stated,  and  it 
is  not  denied  that  the  individual  named  is  an  alter  ego  for  the  Louisiana 
State  Lottery  Company,  and  that  this  is  in  effect  merely  an  application  on 
the  part  of  that  company  for  an  extension  of  its  charter. 

We  have  no  hesitancy  in  saying  that  this  proposition  should  be  rejected; 
rejected  as  vicious  in  morals,  unsound  in  economy,  and  corrupting  and  dan- 
gerous in  politics. 

As  we  view  it,  stripped  of  the  false  pretenses  with  which  it  is  presented,  of 
the  lalse  livery  in  which  it  is  clothed,  it  is  nothing  but  a  bare  offer 

TO    BUY    A    STATE 

and  to  bribe  its  people  to  enter  into  an  infamous  bargain. 

The  pretense  that  it  is  in  aid  of  such  worthy  objects  as  levees,  schools, 
charities,  etc.,  will  deceive  no  one;  the  hypocrisy  is  too  apparent;  the  private 


73 

fortunes  of  the  promoters  of  the  scheme  and  not  those  worthy  public  objects 
are  to  be  its  beneficiaries. 

If  the  promoters  of  this  lottery  scheme  had  said  to  us  that  they  wanted  a 
lottery  for  the  purpose  of  making  money  for  themselves,  and  they  would 
pay  a  good  round  price  for  it,  they  would  at  least  have  rescued  themselves 
from  the  charge  of  insincerity  and  been  entitled  to  be  accorded  the  virtue  of 
candor,  however  shocking  the  proposition  might  be  to  t  he  moral  sense. 

That  the  maintenance  and  operation  of  a  lottery  is  immoral,  few  have  the 
hardihood  to  deny.  It  is  admitted  to  be  a  species  of 

GAMBLING. 

and  no  one  contends  that  gambling  is  a  virtuous  or  worthy  occupation. 

That  lottery  gambling  is  the  most  pernicious  of  all  the  varied  forms  of  this 
vice,  because  more  wide-spread  and  far-reaching,  is  equally  true. 

We  need  to  refer  only  to  one  authority,  and  that  of  such  eminence  that  its 
importance  is  acknowledged  at  once.  The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  over  forty  years  ago,  in  the  case  of  Phalen  vs.  State  of  Virginia,  said; 

"  Experience  has  shown  that  the  common  forms  of  gambling  are  compara- 
tively innocuous  when  placed  in  contrast  with  the  widespread  pestilence  of 
lotteries.  The  former  are  confined  to  a  few  persons  and  places,  but  the  lot- 
tery infects  the  whole  community;  it  enters  every  dwelling;  it  reaches  every 
class;  it  preys  upon  the  hard  earnings  of  the  poor;  it  plunders  the  ignorant 
and  the  simple." 

We  take  it,  then,  that  no  one  denies  the  immorality  of  a  public  lottery 
Shall  we  then  sanction  this  immorality,  imbedded  in  our  organic  law,  and 
place  the  seal  of  our  public  approbation  upon  it  ? 

THE  PEOPLE  OF  THIS  STATE, 

after  declaring  in  their  Constitution  that  gambling  was  a  vice,  laid  their  in- 
junctions upon  us  to  "enact  laws  for  its  suppression."  Shall  we  now  obey 
that  injunction  by  proposing  to  this  same  people,  not  to  suppress,  but  to 
establish  and  protect  this,  the  most  baneful  of  all  gambling.  Such  a  course 
would  seem  to  us  not  only  a  disregard  of  this  plain  injunction  of  the  people, 
but  little  less  than  a  contempt  of  their  expressed  wishes. 

In  what  an  inconsistent  and  pitiable  attitude  we  would  place  ourselves  by 
adopting  this  proposed  amendment,  with  one  article  of  the  Constitution  de- 
claring the  viciousness  of  gambling  and  directing  the  General  Assembly  to 
suppress  it,  while  another  legalized,  adopted  and  protected  it  in  its  worst 
form  !  But  such  is  the  unenviable  position  we  are  invited  to  occupy  before, 
the  thinking  and  enlightened  world. 

But  not  only  are  we  inviied  to  legalize  gambling,  but  we  are  solicited  to 
share  in  its  spoils.  We  are  asked  to  become,  if  not  a  partner  in  terms,  at 
least 

A    BENEFICIARY    OF  THE  VICE, 

and  to  support  ourselves  largely  by  its  proceeds.  To  this  we  might  say  that 
a  state  thus  supported  and  sustained  would  not  only  deserve,  but  would  as- 
suredly receive  the  contempt  and  derision  of  its  sister  states  of  this  American 
Union,  and  of  good  men  everywhere.  As  the  estimation  in  which  an  indi- 
vidual professional  gambler  is  held  by  society,  so  would  it  be  with  Louis- 


74 

iana  in  the  society  of  statehood.  In  no  other  State  of  this  Union  does  such 
an  institution  exist.  On  the  contrary,  in  more  than  half  lotteries  are  pro- 
hibited by  constitutional  enactments  and  almost  all  have  laws  leveled  against 
them.  Surely  such  a  consensus  of  opinion  of  our  brother  Americans,  just 
as  enlightened,  as  virtuous  and  as  devoted  to  the  public  weal  as  we,  and 
with  State  governments  just  as  free,  and  in  many  instances  far  more  pros- 
perous than  ours,  should  receive  consideration  at  our  hands.  In  this  fair 
sisterhood  shall  Louisiana  be  degraded  ?  And  as  she  passes  along  be 
shunned  as  unclean  and  the  withering  cry  go  up  of  "Room  for  the  leper; 
room  !" 

It  is  claimed  that 

WE    CANNOT    SUPPRESS    LOTTERY  GAMBLING 

and  therefore  we  ought  to  regulate  it  and  receive  what  revenues  we  can  from 
it.  But  when  we  come  to  examine  this  regulation  we  find  that  it  increases 
the  powers  of  the  evil  instead  of  restricting  them. 

That  lottery  tickets  will  be  sold  surreptitiously  in  spite  of  laws  to  the  con- 
trary is  admitted  ;  but  where  there  would  be  f>ne  sold  in  that  case,  there 
would  be  hundreds  if  not  thousands  sold  where  lottery  gambling  is  protected 
by  law.  There  is  no  comparison  between  the  two  evils,  and  if  we  are  not 
able  to  suppress  crime  entirely,  it  is  our  duty,  and  the  part  of  wise  statesman- 
ship, to  suppress  it  as  far  as  possible.  Besides,  this  argument  proves  too  . 
much  ;  for  it  applies  equally  to  most  if  not  all  public  evils  and  crimes. 

Many  of  these  readily  suggest  themselves  to  the  dullest  mind.  For  the 
same  reason  we  should  have  no  laws  against  carrying  concealed  weapons, 
against  theft,  against  burglaries,  against  assaults  and  so  on  down  the  cat- 
egory of  recognized  crime.  And  for  the  same  reason  we  should  throw  the 
protecting  aegis  of  the  law  over  such  immoralities,  the  bare  proposition  to 
license  which  would  be  received  with  universal  indignation. 

But  it  is  claimed  by  the  advocates  of  this  measure  that  it  should  be  re- 
garded from  an  economic  standpoint  alone, 

"  AS    A    MERE    BUSINESS    PROPOSITION," 

say  they. 

Waiving  for  the  time  the  enormity  of  classing  a  proposition  to  legalize 
gambling  "  as  a  business  proposition,"  and  of  placing  it  upon  the  same  plane 
as  the  ordinary  and  useful  occupations  of  life,  yet  this  proposition  should  be 
rejected  upon  economic  grounds  also. 

The  first  proposal  it  makes  is  to  create  a  monopoly,  to  exclude  competi- 
tion and  confine  the  benefits  to  a  limited  few.  In  our  system  of  free  govern- 
ment monopolies  are  odious.  They  are  created  and  conducted  for  the  benefit 
of  the  few  at  the  expense  of  the  many.  They  are  undemocratic  and  hostile 
to  the  settled  policy  and  traditions  of  this  country. 

But  if  this 

MONOPOLY 

is  better  for  the  state  than  to  throw  the  "business"  open  to  competition,  why 
not  create  a  monopoly  of  other  businesses — the  whisky  business,  for  instance 
the  dealing  in  any  other  article  of  commerce  ? 


75 

Immense  sums  would  be  paid  for  these  special  exclusive  privileges.  But 
we  hear  no  such  propositions;  they  would  not  be  entertained  a  moment 
for  it  would  be  death  to  all  legitimate  enterprises. 

It  is  said  that  the  sum  offered  is  very  large.  Then  the  franchise  must  be 
proportionately  valuable,  and  if  so — if  we  are  to  "drive  a  bargain,"  and  es- 
pecially if  that  bargain  is  to  be  with  a  soulless  gambling  corporation — let  us 
throw  it  open  to  competition  to  the  highest  bidder,  and  drive  as  hard  a  bar- 
gain as  we  can. 

But  we  are  happy  to  state  that  few  of  the  advocates  of  the  lottery  have  the 
hardihood  to  place  lottery  gambling  upon  the  same  high  plane  with  the  hon- 
est and  worthy  callings  of  life. 

THEY    ADMIT    THAT    IT    BELONGS    TO  THE  LOW  ORDER  OF    THINGS, 

not  calculated  to  improve  the  tone  of  human  society.  But  they  justify  its 
existence  and  their  acceptance  of  the  present  propositions  upon  the  ground 
of  necessity. 

The  State,  say  they,  is  too  poor  to  reject  this  large  sum  upon  merely  sen- 
timental grounds;  that  our  public  charities  are  suffering;  our  levees  down 
and  no  means  of  rebuilding  them;  our  schools  suffering  for  lack  of  funds, 
etc.,  etc. 

If  this  were  so,  it  would  be  a  humiliating  fact  for  Louisianians,  a  fact  that 
should  make  them  hang  their  heads  wich  shame,  and  especially  this  would 
be  so  with 

THE    PARTY    NOW    IN    POWER 

in  the  State,  which,  after  thirteen  years  of  complete  and  uninterrupted  con- 
trol of  the  government  had  brought  us  "  to  this  complexion  "  at  last.  It 
would  be  a  confession  of  inability  to  support  our  institutions,  to  fulfil  our 
most  sacred  obligations,  and  oui  consequent  want  by  just  that  much  of  the 
qualities  of  self-government.  As  well  put  by  one  of  the  leading  daily  news- 
papers of  one  of  the  large  cities  of  this  Union,  "  it  is  a  confession  not  only 
of  present  and  pressing  poverty,  but  worse,  it  is  an  admission  that  for  twenty- 
five  years  to  come  the  necessities  of  the  State  are  likely  to  be  such  that 
money  raised  by  means  that  are  repugnant  to  the  moral  sense  of  the  people 
of  the  Union  will  be  needed  to  pay  for  the  education  of  the  children,  to 
maintain  the  eleemosynary  institutions  and  build  and  keep  the  public  levees 
in  repair." 
But  is  it  so? 

IS    LOUISIANA  POOR, 

or  is  she  likely  to  become  so  ?  No,  Louisiana,  thank  God,  is  rich;  rich  in  her 
fertile  soil  and  balmy  climate,  rich  in  the  product  of  her  farms  and  shops, 
rich  in  the  strong  arms  and  honest  hearts  of  her  sturdy  sons,  wringing  riches 
from  the  sweat  of  toil,  and  ready  to  cast  out  the  dishonest  temptations  of 
the  gambler  ;  rich  in  the  purity  and  devotion  of  her  fair  daughters,  ever 
strengthening,  supporting  and  leading  us  in  the  paths  of  honesty,  virtue  and 
honor,  and  rich  in  mental,  moral  and  material  worth  which  millions  cannot 
count.  Nor  is  she  likely  to  become  a  pauper  unless  in  an  evil  day  she  suc- 
cumb to  the  allurements  of  the  tempter,  and  her  people  become  the  slaves  of 
the  sloth  and  heedless  idleness  engendered  by  lottery  gambling. 

f 

i 


76 

ACCORDING  TO  THE  LAST  CENSUS 

Louisiana  was  richer  per  capita  than  most  of  her  Southern  sisters.  Richer 
than  Georgia,  than  Mississippi,  than  North  Carolina  and  South  Carolina 
and  Tennessee,  and  yet  we  hear  of  no  lotteries  to  save  any  of  those  States 
from  bankruptcy  and  financial  ruin.  We  are  prospering  ;  our  prosperity  is 
increasing  in  value  yearly,  and  our  population  is  growing  greater.  For  the 
year  1889  our  total  assessed  valuation  was  the  sum  of  $226,392,288.17,  an 
increase  over  that  of  1888  of  18,315,274.17  as  shown  by  the  auditor's  report. 
The  6-mill  tax  on  this,  together  with  the  licenses  collected,  which  amounted 
to  $385,505.54,  and  some  other  small  incomes,  gave  the  State  alone  a  reve- 
nue of  a  million  and  three-quarters  in  round  numbers. 

As  shown  by  the  treasurer's  report,  there  will  be  a  large  surplus  carried 
over  from  the  general  fund  of  1889  to  that  of  1890;  and  as  stated  by  the  audi- 
tor, if  economical  appropriations  are  made,  the  State  will  be  on  a  cash 
basis. 

WHEN    HAS    THIS    BEEN    THE    CASE    BEFORE 

for  the  past  twenty-five  years?  Do  these  figures  show  poverty,  or  do  they 
suggest  the  necessity  for  a  lottery? 

It  has  been  persistently  and  loudly  asserted  that  our  charitable  institutions 
have  suffered,  that  our  insane,  blind,  deaf  and  dumb,  and  indigent  sick  have 
not  had  the  care  and  attention  they  need,  and  that  these  institutions  are  in 
bad  condition. 

In  answer  to  this  it  is  only  necessary  to  refer  to  the  reports  of  the  superin- 
tendents and  officers  of  these  various  institutions  to  show  the  utter  falsity 
of  any  such  claims.  These  reports  all  show  these  institutions  to  be  in 
excellent  condition  and  a  credit  to  the  State. 

THE    INSANE    ASYLUM 

at  Jackson,  which  has  received  the  most  denunciation,  not  only  shows  that 
it  had  ample  funds  from  the  State,  but  exhibits  a  large  balance  on  hand  after 
paying  all  expenses. 

The  institute  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb  and  the  Blind,  the  Charity  Hospitals 
and  the  Soldiers'  Home  have  all  been  well  provided  for.  By  the  appropria- 
tion bill  which  has  passed  your  honorable  body  and  is  now  before  the  Sen- 
ate the  appropriations  for  these  institutions  have  been  increased  and  provis- 
ions made  for  the  erection  of  a  new  building  at  Jackson  which  will  accommo- 
date all  the  indigent  insane  in  the  State  ;  likewise  increased  appropriations 
have  been  made  for  the  Charity  Hospital  at  Shreveport,  for  the  agricultural 
and  experimental  stations,  the -Louisiana  State  University  and  Agricultural 
and  Mechanical  College,  the  Southern  University  and  the  State  Normal 
School. 

And  with  all  these  increased  appropriations  we  are  told  there  will  yet  be 
a  surplus  with  which  the  State  can  likely  settle  most  if  not  all  the  valid 
floating  claims  against  her,  many  of  which  came  down  to  us  as  a  costly  leg- 
acy of  reconstruction  days. 

In  the  face  of  this  the  claim  that  we  are  unable  to  care  for  our  educa- 
tional and  charitable  institutions  and  that  a  lottery  is  necessary  for  that  pur- 
pose, rapidly  falls  away. 


77 

It  Is  said  that  we  will  be  unable  to  close  the  breaks  in 

OUR   LEVEES 

caused  by  the  recent  floods,  and  to  rebuild  and  enlarge  and  strengthen  them 
so  as  to  protect  our  lands  and  homes  from  ruin  and  destruction,  unless  the 
offer  of  the  lottery  company  is  accepted. 

We  have  no  desire  to,  nor  do  we  for  one  moment,  underestimate  the  dam- 
ages and  devastation  wrought  by  the  flood,  nor  are  we  indifferent  to  or 
careless  to  the  great  privations  and  sufferings  of  our  fellow-citizens  following 
them.  In  common  with  all  good  men  we  deplore  this  deeply  and  stand 
ready  to  aid  in  all  legitimate  means  whereby  security  can  be  had,  but  in  our 
judgment  the  damages  and  loss  following  the  breaking  of  barriers  erected 
against  the  flood  of  waters,  great  as  they  are,  would  be  insignificant  when 
compared  with  the  incalculable  devastation  and  ruin  to  the  material  and 
moral  interest  of  society  and  our  State,  when  once  the  barriers  of  public 
opinion  against  immorality  and  crime  are  swept  away  and  the  devastating 
floods  of  corruption  let  in. 

BUT     IT     IS     NOT     TRUE     THAT     WE    ARE    UNABLE    TO    BUILD    OUR    LEVEES. 

After  the  disastrous  floods  of  1882  and  1884  we  rebuilt,  repaired  and 
strengthened  them  when  we  had  five  times  the  amount  of  levees  down  that 
we  have  now,  and  when  our  resources  were  far  below  what  we  can  command 
at  this  time. 

If  we  could  rebuild  then  why  not  do  so  now,  when  we  have  less  to  build 
and  more  means  to  do  it  with? 

We  now  have  in  the  treasury  to  the  credit  of  the  general  engineer  and 
levee  and  drainage  fund,  and  the  several  levee  districts  except  the  fifth  and 
the  Tensas  basin  districts,  the  sum  of  $238,664.05,  against  which  there  are 
liabilities  amounting  to  $150,415.50,  leaving  a  cash  balance  of  $88,248.55.  In 
the  $150,415.50  is  included  the  sum  with  which  to  rebuild  the  Raleigh  levee 
in  the  fifth  district,  and  the  engineer's  report  that  the  balance  to  our  credit 
will  rebuild  the  other  broken  levees  in  the  State  at  the  usual  price  of  building 
levees. 

WE    HAVE    ALSO    AVAILABLE 

for  levee  building  the  first  of  June,  1891,  all  of  the  $300,000  just  appropriated 
by  the  House  that  may  be  collected  and  the  taxes  that  have  been  levied  by 
the  levee  districts  of  the  State,  exclusive  of  the  fifth  and  Tensas  basin  districts. 

The  Board  of  engineers  estimate  that  75  per  cent  of  which  will  amount  to 
$315,147.  Besides  that,  the  treasurer  estimates  that  the  sum  which  will  prob- 
ably be  available  from  the  sale  of  swamp  lands  will  amount  to  about  $75,000, 
making  a  total  of  $478,395.55  with  which  to  close  breaks,  repair  and  enlarge 
levees  for  the  next  twelve  months,  excluding  the  Raleigh  crevasse,  which  has 
already  been  provided  for. 

The  Tensas  basin  levee  district  has  on  hand  $30,420.25,  $50,000  of  bonds 
worth  almost  their  face  value  and  all  the  lands  donated  to  it  by  the  State, 
and  owes  no  debts  for  levee  work.  The  fifth  district  has  on  hand  $8228.91, 
about  $325,000  in  bonds  and  most  of  the  lands  donated  to  it,  and  she  raises 
by  taxation  net  about  $112,500,  and  her  liabilities  will  probably  not  exceed 
$100,000. 

It  is  ADMITTED    ON    ALL    HANDS 

that  it  is  necessary  for  complete  and  permanent  protection,  that  the  General 
Government  should  build  and  maintain  the  levees  and  take  charge  of  the 
whole  system,  and  we  loudly  assert,  and  truthfully  too,  that  it  is  its  duty  to 
do  so,  as  the  Mississippi  river  is  the  great  highway  of  internal  commerce  in 
this  country  and  receives  the  waters  from  two-thirds  of  the  States.  We  all 
fervently  hope  for  such  a  consummation  and  are  bending  our  energies  to  that 
end.  We  should  not,  then,  place  any  obstruction  or  interpose  the  least  ob- 
stacle to  the  accomplishment  of  this  purpose,  which  is  admittedly  the  only 
ultimate  solution  of  the  levee  problem. 


78 

Is  the  establishment  of  this  lottery  scheme  liable  or  calculated  to  advance 
this  universally  desired  consummation  ?  On  the  contrary,  will  it  not  be  a 
very  serious  draw  back  and  cause  its  postponement  for  long  years,  if  not  pre- 
vent it  entirely  during  the  continuation  of  its  charter  ?  Such  is  our  opinion. 

We  establish  in  our  midst  a  gambling  institution,  one  purpose  of  which  is 
to  build  our  levees,  and  one  argument  urged  in  its  favor  by  its  supporters  is 
that  while  it  may  injure  others,  we  are  not  damaged  ;  that  it  draws  ninety- 
seven  per  cent  of  its  unhallowed  gains  from  the  people  of  other  States,  and 
returns  to  us  more  than  the  three  per  cent  taken  from  our  population. 

DOES    IT     LIE    IN    OUR    MOUTHS 

while  we  are  drawing  money  from  them  for  this  purpose,  by  means  repug- 
nant to  the  inoral  sense  of  the  whole  people  of  the  Union,  except  ourselves, 
and  reprobated  by  the  laws  of  most  all  their  States,  to  ask  them  to  contribute 
to  this  same  purpose  in  the  usual  and  ordinary  manner? 

W,ill  we  not  be  told  to  build  our  levees  with  our  lottery,  and  that  a  peo- 
ple cannot  legitimately  be  called  upon  to  contribute  to  a  purpose  for  which 
they  are  in  effect  robbed  ?  Such  we  feel  would  be  the  effect  upon  this  great 
hope  which  we  all  cherish. 

But  again,  if  this  lottery  is  a  mere  business  proposition,  how  does  the  State 
stand  in  the  bargain  proposed  ?  a  loser  or  a  gainer  ?  We  think  it  clear  that 
she  would  be  a  loser.  Here  is  a  company  to  be  organized,  the  capital  stock 
of  which  is  to  be  $5,000,000,  divided  into  50,000  shares  of  $100  each  ;  and  in 
consideration  of  the  privilege  of  carrying  on  a  lottery  for  twenty-five  years, 
and  a  total  exemption  from  all  tax  and  contribution  of  every  kind  upon  all 
its  property,  is  to  pay  the  State  the  sum  of  $1,00.0,000  per  annum.  This  sum 
appears  large,  but  it  is  deceiving,  and  is  really  much  less  than  should  be  paid 
under  the  revenue  laws  as  they  now  exist,  and 

LESS    THAN    WHAT    IS    PAID    BY    LEGITIMATE    CALLINGS 

with  a  like  amount  of  capital.  The  shares  of  the  Louisiana  State  Lottery 
Company,  which  will  go  out  of  existence  in  less  than  four  years,  are  quoted 
at  $1200.  It  is  reasonable  to  suppo&e  that  the  shares  of  the  new  company, 
with  twenty-five  years  to  run,  will  be  worth  at  least  as  much.  Therefore, 
50,000  shares  at  $1200  per  share  represents  $60,000,000. 

The  State  tax  of  6  mills  on  this  would  be $360,000 

The  city  tax  of  the    city  of   New     Orleans  at  2.02  per  cent 

(which  is  the  amount  now  levied)  would  be 1,212,000 

And  the  license  predicated  on  the  gross  receipts,  which  is,  say, 
$30,000,000  per  annum,  and  taking  for  basis  the  kindred 
business  of  whisky  selling,  would  exceed  the  sum  of 200,000 

Total  taxes  and  licenses $ i  ,772,000 

Or  about  three-quarters  of  a  million  more  than  the  amount  now  offered  for 
the  franchise.     And  thus  the  State  would  be  a  loser  by  that  amount. 
Again,  viewing  this  act  in  its  relation  to 

OTHER    ARTICLES    OF    THE    CONSTITUTION, 

we  find  that  it  is  in  direct  conflict  with  article  207,  which  prescribes  what 
property  shall  be  exempt  from  taxation  and  none  other. 

It  supersedes  article  234,  which  provides  that  all  corporations  shall  hold 
their  charters  subject  to  provisions  of  the  constitution. 

It  supersedes  article  235,  which  declares  that  "the  exercise  of  the  police 
power  of  the  State  shall  never  be  abridged  or  so  construed  as  to  permit  cor- 
porations to  conduct  their  business  in  such  a  manner  as  to  infringe  the  equal 
rights  of  individuals  or  the  general  well-being  of  the  State,"  in  this  that  it 
grants  to  this  corporation  a  monopoly  not  permitted  to  other  corporations  or 
to  individuals  and  it  exempts  this  corporation  from  the  payment  of  all  taxa- 
tion license — a  duty  exacted  from  every  other  class  of  citizens. 

It  supersedes  article  238  in  this,  that  it  permits  the  issuance  of  stocks  on 
the  payment  of  not  less  than  20  per  cent,  of  the  capital,  allows  the  corpora- 


79 

tion  to  do  business  on  a  capital  of  $100,000  when  the  capital  is  fixed  at 
$5,000,000. 

It  places  the  grant  in  the  citizen  of  another  State  not  subject  to  the  juris- 
diction of  our  courts. 

It  fixes  no  domicile  for  the  corporation,  and  although  pretending  to  organ- 
ize a  corporation,  divests  our  courts  of  an/  jurisdiction  over  it,  because, 
granted  in  the  first  place  to  an  alien,  there  is  no  prohibition  against  his  re- 
granting  toother  aliens,  and  in  this  article  236  is  directly  superseded. 

And  lastly  this  proposition  should  be    rejected,  because  it  is 

DANGEROUS    AND    CORRUPTING    IN    OUR    POLITICS, 

and  its  adoption  would  be  a  constant  menace  to  free  and  pure  government 
in  Louisiana. 

No  government  largely,  supported  by  a  corporation,  and  especially  by  a 
gambling  corporation,  can  be  clean  or  can  subserve  the  ends  for  which  it  was 
created. 

In  the  necessity  of  things  the  very  objects  and  purposes  of  government 
will  be  perverted,  and  instead  of  serving  as  the  guardian  of  the  people  it  be- 
comes the  instrument  in  the  hands  of  the  corporation  of  its  own  protection 
and  aggrandizement. 

We  are  told  by  our  constitution  that  the  only  legitimate  end  of  government 
is  "to  protect  the  citizen  in  the  enjoyment  of  life,  liberty  and  property,"  and 
that  "when  it  assumes  other  functions  it  is  usurpation  and  oppression." 

Let  this  gambling  corporation  once 

BECOME  A  PART  OF  OUR  STATE 

government  by  being  imbedded  in  the  constitution,  with  the  alimonv  of  the 
State  largely  drawn  from  its  coffers,  and  it  would  necessarily  turn  its  im- 
mense money  power  towards  fortifying,  perpetuating  and  aggrandizing  itself 
at  the  expense  of  whatever  stood  in  its  way,  even  should  that  be  the  welfare 
and  liberties  of  the  people  ;  and  this  government  would  become,  in  the 
words  of  the  constitution,  "usurpation  and  oppression." 

The  claim  that  the  lottery  company  would  have  no  reason  to  interfere  and 
therefore  would  not  interfere  in  politics  when  once  they  were  secured  bv  a 
constitutional  enactment,  is  not  tenable  for  a  moment.  It  has  been  held  by 
the  highest  court  in  the  land  that  no  contract  could  be  made  establishing  a 
lottery,  which  was  not  revocable. 

If  this  be  true,  or  even  if  it  be  an  open  question  as  some  contend,  then  the 
lottery  would  be  compelled  to  enter  and  to  remain  in  politics  for  the  protec- 
tion of  its  very  existence,  it  would  be  subject  to  constant  attacks  from  two 
widely  different  classes  of  men  actuated  by  widely  different  motives — the 
honest,  who  would  endeavor  to  destroy  it  as  a  corruptor  of  virtue,  a  destroyer 
of  morality  and  a  breeder  of  crime  ;  and  the  blackmailer,  who  would  assail 
it  for  the  corrupt  purpose  of  selling  his  place.  Thus 

ITS  CREATURES  WOULD  BE  FOUND 

in  every  department  of  the  government — in  the  executive  chair  of  the  State, 
taking  care,  indeed,  "  that  the  laws  be  faithfully  executed,  but  in  the  interest 
oj  the  lottery  company  ;  on  the  bench,  construing  the  laws  carefully  indeed, 
that  no  harm  should  eome  to  the  lottery  ;  and  on  the  floor  of  both  houses  of 
your  general  Assembly  pledged  and  bound  indeed  to  shape  legislation  and 
enact  laws,  not  in  the  interest  of  the  State,  but  in  that  of  the  lottery. 

And  it  would  even  be  forced  to  enter  the  halls  of  Congress  to  pro- 
tect its  nefarious  traffic  from  attacks  which  would  surely  come  from 
national  legislation.  Being  solely  a  moneye  1  enterprise  with  no  object 
but  individual  gain,  it  would  have  no  motive  but  interest,  and  no  politics 
but  that  which  had  its  beginning  and  end  in  itself.  It  would  act  with 
all  parties,  and  equally  oppose  all  as  its  interests  dictated.  A  friend  of 
Democracy  to-day,  it  would  be  a  supporter  of  Republicanism  to-morrow, and 
would  be  equally  the  enemy  of  both  should  occasion  arise  to  profit  by  such 
hostility. 


8o 

It  would  and  could  recognize  no  standard  of  public  preferment  but  devo- 
tion to  its  interests,  or  at  least,  indifference  to  its  aggrandizement,  and  the 
corresponding  depletion  of  the  people.  Aspiring  men  would  seek  its  favors 
and  court  its  smiles,  and  the  road  to  political  advancement  would  not  be 
through  the  gateway  of  honesty,  ability  and  devotion  to  the  public  weal,  but 
through  the  doors  of  the  lottery  company. 

As  legislators 

WE     CANNOT    AVOID    THE    RESPONSIBILITY 

that  is  thrown  upon  us  by  voting  to  submit  this  proposition  to  the  people. 
The  argument  that  a  legislator  in  so  doing  expresses  no  individual  opinion, 
gives  no  individual  endorsement,  is  fallacious  in  the  extreme,  and  not  tena- 
ble for  a  moment. 

On  the  contrary,  as  he  is  a  legislator  by  the  belief  and  confidence  of  the 
people  in  his  more  than  ordinary  intelligence,  ability  and  judgment,  just  so 
much  the  more  will  his  vote  be  regarded  with  more  weight  and  force  than 
that  of  the  ordinary  citizen.  He  is  sent  to  the  halls  of  legislation  for  the 
very  purpose  of  determining  what  measures  are  good  for  the  welfare  of  the 
people.  They  charge  him  with  this  commissioH  and  do  not  expect  him  to 
shirk  the  responsibility  or  throw  it  back  upon  them. 

SUCH    A    COURSE    WOULD    BE    COWARDLY  ; 

and  its  suggestion  is  an  imputation  upon  the  intelligent  conception  of  his 
duty  as  a  legislator  or  his  moral  courage  as  a  man.  The  constitution  of  the 
State  charges  him  with  this  duty,  and  so  carefully  has  it  guarded  the  sub- 
mission of  amendments  that  not  only  must  a  majority  approve  of  such  a 
proposition,  but  that  majority  must  be  two-thirds  before  it  is  submitted  to 
the  people.  Article  256  of  the  constitution  provides  that  "propositions  for  the 
amendment  of  this  constitution  maybe  made  by  the  General  Assembly, at  any 
session  thereof,  and  if  two-thirds  of  all  the  members  elected  to  each  house 
shall  concur  therein,  etc."  Concur  in  what?  Not  in  the  proposition  to  submit  the 
matter  to  the  people,  but  in  the  proposition  itself  to  amend  the  Constitution; 
agree  together  that  it  is  such  a  change  in,  or  addition  to,  the  fundamental 
law,  as  in  their  own  opinion,  ought  to  be  made;  and  when  a  legislator  votes 
for  a-  proposition  to  amend,  he  thereby  makes  the  proposition  himself,  so  far 
as  he  individually  can;  and  when  two-thirds  of  them  vote  for  it,  it  is  made,  in 
the  language  of  the  Constitution,  "  by  the  General  Assembly."  When  a 
legislator  votes  for  such  a  proposition  he  thereby  places  the  stamp  of  his  ap- 
proval and  recommendation  upon  it,  and  should  he  contend  otherwise  he 
would  be  met  with  the  universal  truism  that  "  actions  speak  louder  than 
words." 
The 

APPEAL   TO    SHIFT    THE    RESPONSIBILITY 

upon  the  people  is  "nothing  more  or  less,"  in  the  words  of  our  worthy  Execu- 
tive, in  his  warning  message  to  this  General  Assembly,  than  an  appeal  to 
give  the  lottery  company  the  opportunity  to  go  into  the  next  campaign  (for- 
tified, as  it  will  be,  by  the  approval  of  this  General  Assembly),  and  by  and 
through  an  immense  corruption  fund,  mass  all  the  bad  elements  in  the  State 
white  and  black,  and  by  their  united  vote  endeavor  to  ride  rough-shod  over 
the  respectable  and  worthy  people  of  this  State.  Let  no  man  deceive  him- 
self, and  let  no  man  be  deceived  by  others  in  this  matter. 

For  all  the  foregoing  reasons  we  respectfully  dissent  from  the  report  of  the 
majoritv  of  vour  committee,  and  earnestly  recommend  that  the  proposition 
be  rejected/  Respectfully  submitted.  J.  M.  KENNEDY, 

H.  P.  WELLS, 
FELIX  J.  DREYFOUS. 


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